Page 39 - Tehelka Issue 14E

INFRASTRUCTURE

hot and humid summers, monsoons business alive. If we don’t, someone
and harsh winters, resulting in sub- else will.”
sequent contraction and expansion Another contractor from Banga-
of base materials. Moreover, speci- lore has a similar story to tell, ”Con-
fications have not been changed in tractors of damaged roads are asked
proportion to the rise in the number by the civic body to rectify the de-
of vehicles. Water stagnation and fects in ridiculously small time. Fail-
traffic jams put further pressure ing to complete the contracts can re-
on roads. The top layer of the road, sult in disqualification from further
which used to be 40-mm thick, is projects.” There is no minimum ceil-
now reduced to 25 mm. The layer ing for the bid. Companies just try to
below, made of blue metal stones, win the contracts at any cost. Those
has been reduced from 70mm to 50 making the roads indulge in heavy
mm. A civic body official from Lu- cost-cutting. This leads to the roads
dhiana confessed, ”Using building breaking in quick time. Thus, roads
debris for filling potholes was not in are made every year post mon -
the list of approved filling materials. soons and the overall expenditure
Yet contractors continue violating exceeds the required cost.
regulations. They hike project costs Experts also point to the ever-
increasing burden on roads in urban
It’s raining pits Civic bodies and meant for off-road and highway
areas. Sports utility vehicles (SUVs,
road contractors
travels) and luggage carriers can
often be seen on city roads in peak
play the blame
hours. Such heavy loads further add
and potholes game every year stress to the road ecosystem.
The recent road over-bridge col-
by deflecting the
lapse at Mumbai’s Andheri railway
responsibility for
station during a spell of heavy rain
damaged roads on has raised concerns over the ro -
bustness of the city’s infrastructure.
each other. It is the Vibhav Mehta, an Andheri resident,
• Life at stake The roads across the said, “Any structure, bearing so much
About 63 per cent of roads are paved in India. Be it Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore, just country each monsoon, posing a threat case not only in a traffic load needs regular inspection.
before every monsoon, local civic bodies and road contractors come out of hibernation to start to the life of commuters state but acros India Mostly, hasty patchwork is done on
the roads just before monsoons to
construction of roads and sewage lines. Is the government layabout or a tactic to get repeated placate complaining residents of
road contracts sanctioned? writes SUBHANGI SINGH Cities in bad road woes and timeframes midway. We have to the area. The stormwater drains are
Roads have existed in India for the keep mum due to political pressure.” not properly de-silted, adding to the
last 5,000 years. India has a road Usually, the lifeline of a road burden on these overcrowded roads
he first rains of the Under-Bridge (RUB), the work on mental science helps forecast network of over fifty-lakh kilome- starts when it is sanctioned by the due to accumulation of stagnant
monsoon lash Chan - which has already been delayed weather well in advance. An effi- tres, the second largest in the world. Transport Ministry. The projects water after a heavy rain.” Commut-
digarh while Ridhhi is by almost six years. As much as the cient government can plan strate- About 63 percent of these roads are involve contractors, brokers and ers on Delhi-Gurugram expressway
on her way home from project would ease traffic jams, the gies well in advance to cope with paved. Civic bodies and road con- politicians who want their share of were stuck in a monster jam, which
work. As she approach- question arises that why would the challenges no matter how unu- tractors play the blame game every business, commission and votes re- lasted almost two days during the
Tes Railway crossing the local civic body green-light sual they are. Along with the build- year by deflecting the responsibility spectively. A road contractor from 2016 monsoon season. The civic au-
number 126 at Manimajra, Chandi- such a tedious project during the ing of huge bridges and underpass- for damaged roads on each other. Mumbai lamented,”The civic body thorities have done little in the past
garh, a barricade, a gaping pit and a rainy season, even though said es during monsoons (which often All line departments have to work in doesn’t give us the required num- two years to prevent such incidents.
huge mound of dug-up earth greet rains would hamper the construc- turn into ponds after a heavy rain ), tandem to deal with the challenges ber of road gullies and service ducts, Neha Arora, who resides in Guru-
her. She sighs, “Another road rav- tion work. As we shift our gazes to there is a dire need for a sustainable of monsoons, which seldom hap- adding pressure on the roads during gram and commutes to New Delhi
aged just before the rains! Why do some other premier cities in India, mechanism to manage the annual pens. Lessons have to be learnt from heavy rains. The consulting agencies for work, does not sound hopeful,
they always start the construction we find the phenomenon is an oft- monsoon season. So why do the repeated monsoon havoc on these hired for planning and budget esti- “There was some road repair activ-
work so close to the monsoons?” repeated one. roads fall to pieces every year, even roads to devise effective strategies mation for new roads give unrealis- ity this year as well before the rains
The said railway crossing is closed One must remember that mod- though we have just four months of for future. Roads in India are subject tic targets. They seldom inspect the arrived. Sewage lines were laid in
for the construction of a Railway ern meteorological and environ- monsoon? to extreme temperature variations; actual site. We underbid to keep our parts of the city. But the construc-

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