Potholes can’t give city rough time anymore?

With thousands of potholes being reported every monsoon, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has now made it compulsory for all wards to conduct a road roughness index test before opening up a repaired road for vehicular movement.

According to a circular issued by the roads and traffic department, it will be mandatory for every ward to have this test conducted for all roads constructed in the city. It will also be compulsory to conduct the road roughness test every year till the defect liability period (DLP) of the particular road.

Based on the score, road surfaces will be categorised into good, average and poor. If the score is poor, the contractor will be asked to fix the road, if necessary.

“This should be ideally followed, considering it is part of the guidelines issued by the Indian Road Congress (IRS). So far it was not mandatory for the contractor to conduct that test before opening the road for traffic. The tender document conditions did not make it binding. But now, this clause will be added,” said a BMC official from the roads department.

The BMC maintains nearly 2,000-km of roads in the city, and has always been at the receiving end over the quality of roads. According to the data consolidated by the road department from the civic body’s 24x7 app, 3,649 pothole complaints were reported from June 10 to September 3 this year. The BMC app has been downloaded by 1,72,184 mobile users in the city.

Sanjay Singh Gaharwal, from the research wing of Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said, “Several municipal corporations in India, including Delhi, Gurugram and Ghaziabad, conduct the roughness index test . It is a good practice and the quality of roads will improve after the test. Also, road builders are expected to conduct this test, as per the guidelines of IRC.”

Ravi Raja, Congress corporator and leader of Opposition in BMC, said, “This is a welcome move by the BMC, and we hope there will be a difference on ground.”

Meanwhile, Viraj Mamania, Borivli resident, said, “As taxpayers, we are more concerned about having good roads. Several roads in the city are developing potholes one year or two years after construction. The BMC should also do something about the way they fill potholes during the monsoon.”