With heavy rains taking a break for the past 2-3 days, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has fast-tracked its efforts to fix potholes that have emerged on the roads of the twin-city. Unlike the traditional process of engaging manual labour and using hot asphalt and bitumen, MBMC’s public work’s department (PWD) has reintroduced the automated quick-fix solution to get rid of the menace by using modern technology in the form of Jet-Patchers.
This machine which repairs the road with customized cold mix, before sucking out the earlier laid tar layers, works on an auto-mode module and can also be used during rains but ideally in-between short gaps when rain pauses. A self-sufficient unit with combined resources of a truck, liquid, emulsion tanker, tar, sprayer, roller and compressor, the system is fully automatic, requiring minimal but trained and qualified personnel for proper results. Right from cleaning and drying the pothole, the Jet Patcher blows the cold mix onto the pothole at a very high velocity.
After effectively filling and sealing it with the aggregate mix, a final layer is applied to fix and level the patch. The MBMC claims the presence of 235 patches which are riddled with potholes in the twin-city. “Apart from uneven surfaces due to trenches dug by various utility agencies, old asphalt-made roads have developed potholes. Jet-Patchers are already in action mode to fix the problem. We are monitoring the durability of the filling process, ” said city engineer- Deepak Khambit.
While funds amounting to Rs. 5 crores have been allocated in the budget for the repair of roads in the current fiscal, road contractors have been given the list of affected roads which are under the defect liability period. Amid the heavy downpour, a pothole-ridden road near the bus stop in the Kajupada area located on the Thane-Ghodbunder Road in Kashimira had claimed the life of a 37-year-old biker on 4, July, following which chief minister- Eknath Shinde had directed all civic officials in the state to end the pothole menace at the earliest.
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