PUNE: The civic administration had said that the work of filling up potholes will be fast tracked as the rains had stopped but the PMC’s hot mix plant at Yerawada is repeatedly developing faults. Since the control panel of the machine has developed a fault, the work of filling up potholes has come to a standstill.
Citizens face a tough time while driving their vehicles as the roads are full of small and big potholes. The civic administration said that the work of road repairs and asphalting will start from October after the rains end in September. As a part of “mission 15’, the works of 15 important roads will be carried out.
Hence, the administration is claiming that the roads will be of good quality in the future. However, after the control panel of the hot mix plant located at Yerawada has developed a fault, the work of preparing gravel mixed tar has come to a standstill.
The plant manufactures 450 tonnes of gravel mixed tar every day. Of that, 150 tonnes is handed over to 15 ward offices and the remaining tar is mainly used for filling up potholes and for asphalting of roads. However, since three days, the work of preparing tar has stopped.
The road department decided to deploy 15 road maintenance vans simultaneously to carry out road work. On Wednesday (Oct 4), the work of filling up potholes started on Sinhagad Road but the work is incomplete due to lack of availability of tar.
An old plant located at Yerawada has been re-started but only 70-75 tonnes of tar could be prepared. Since the quantity is inadequate, it is affecting the work of filling up potholes.
Since the rains had stopped in August, the work of filling up potholes had started on a war footing. However, since the bearing of the plant is faulty, the plant is shut. Since the spare parts had to be requisitioned from Gujarat, the work was delayed. Now, the plant has developed a fault again.
“The hot mix plant is closed due to a fault in the control panel. The work of repairing the control panel is underway. This has affected the work of filling up potholes. Since the plant is very old, it is necessary to install a new machine,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner Vikas Dhakne.
