NAGPUR: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has identified 20 major roads in the city which are in a deplorable condition and need to be completely recarpeted. NMC superintending engineer (PWD) Ajay Pohekar said the civic body has decided to recarpet these tar roads, which have not been carpeted for almost a decade.
TOI has been constantly highlighting the bad condition of tar roads across the city. According to a NMC public works department survey, most of the major tar roads are 12 meters wide and 20km long. NMC will require approximately Rs16 crore to recarpet these 20 roads.
Pohekar said most of the roads are major thoroughfares and are in a shambles. “Though 20 roads have been identified, NMC may take up more roads, or replace those in the list with other roads. The list is not final yet,” he said.
The city has 3,642.08km of roads, of which NMC owns 2,482.94km, NHAI (29.80km), NIT (965.32km) and state PWD (107.02km). Besides, PWD also owns the 41-km inner ring road.
A senior official from the NMC public works department claimed that the condition of NMC owned roads is not bad as compared to roads owned by other agencies like NHAI, NIT and state PWD.
Most of the roads which are in bad shape are in Laxmi Nagar, Dharampeth and Ashi Nagar zones, the survey revealed.
Corporators told TOI that most of the tar roads in the city have not been re-laid for years. “The civic body had been repairing only potholes and doing patchwork,” pointed out senior Congress corporator Praful Gudadhe, who also endorsed NMC’s survey about major tar roads in Laxmi Nagar zone being in a bad shape. They need to be re-laid urgently, he said.
“Since last two terms I have been watching that the NMC public works department is only interested in doing patchwork and pothole repair work,” he claimed.
He pointed out that there is no system in NMC for re-carpeting tar roads. It should be done automatically without waiting for anyone’s demand, he said, and cited the example of NMC’s property tax collection system, which generates tax invoices every year to the taxpayers. According to him, it is mandatory for NMC to provide pothole free roads to the taxpayers.
NIT’s help sought for repairing potholes
The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has sought Nagpur Improvement Trust’s help to repair pothole riddled roads in the city. “We will pay the civic agency if it repairs potholes on NMC owned city roads,” said Pohekar. Besides, NMC has also asked it to repair or recarpet bad roads in its jurisdiction in the city, the SE claimed.
.png?w=600)
