PMC plans road micro-surfacing to prevent potholes during monsoon, residents doubt effectiveness

Pune: The civic body plans to carry out micro-surfacing of various city roads ahead of the monsoon to counter the problem of potholes.
According to Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials, a survey was conducted through the Road Asset Management System (RAMS) to study the treatments needed on various roads before the rainy season. Based on this, roads covering approximately 50km (about 3.8 lakh sqm) were identified for preventive maintenance using only low-cost treatments. Around Rs15 crore will be spent on the micro-surfacing project.
Aniruddha Pawaskar, head of PMC's road department, told TOI, "The micro-surfacing treatment is available at a very low cost. Once micro-surfacing is applied, roads do not develop potholes or patches for three to four years. Earlier as well, PMC used this technology, and those roads remained in good condition."
PMC officials said such micro-surfacing was done on the bridge near Rahul Talkies, and even after seven years, the layer remains intact.
Tenders worth Rs7.5 crore each will be issued for the eastern and western areas of PMC. The estimate committee approved these works on April 17.
However, activists and city residents pointed out that many such claims of PMC have proved futile in the past.
"Many civic officials have undue interests in issuing tenders. They are hand-in-glove with some contractors and politicians. Cases of corruption have surfaced before in such contracts," said Vijay Kumbhar of Surajya Sangharsha Samittee, a citizens' group.
Resident Ameya Nipankar of Kothrud said the administration must make sure that residents get pothole-free roads during the rains. "Pothole-filled roads can cause accidents. Commuters are forced to endure major traffic jams due to poor quality roads. We can only hope that this year, the situation will be better," he said.
Meanwhile, commuters may continue to deal with poor roads even after the monsoon ends this year, as large-scale civic road digging is on the cards. Around 350km of roads under PMC will be dug up in the months to come. According to officials, works like CCTV network for the police department are scheduled, as well as a data-sharing network for govt authorities. The cables for these facilities will be laid by digging up the road. Nearly Rs600 crore from taxpayers' money will be spent on digging and restoration.
When asked if micro-surfacing will be done on roads slated for digging, Pawaskar said PMC would not dig the roads where micro-surfacing is carried out. "If works like cable laying are to be done at these roads, footpaths will be used. No permissions will be given to dig the carriageway of the roads that are micro-surfaced," he told TOI.