The poor condition of roads has left motorists fuming, especially during monsoon.
In the second week of May, the NMC’s hotmix department had directed all 10 zones to inspect the condition of roads as part of its annual exercise to provide pothole-free roads to motorists.
City has a road network of around 3,549km owned by different agencies including NMC, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), state public works department (PWD) and Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT). Of these, NMC has decided to repair only 2,406km of roads it owns.
In 2022-23, the hotmix department had claimed to have repaired 6,044 potholes across the city. In this fiscal year, from April 1 to June 30, the NMC claimed to have repaired 991 potholes.
However, the department has no record on the condition of tar roads under Laxmi Nagar and Gandhibagh zones. So, the tar roads under these two zones should be considered as in good condition, said sources, claiming that public representatives from these two zones are stalwarts including former mayors, MLAs, MP and corporators.
TOI has been regularly reporting about the pathetic condition of tar roads. Most of the roads across the city are in a very bad condition, was the general opinion of motorists.
From the beginning of this fiscal, the civic body had been claiming that it would repair only the roads owned by it. The inspection reports from eight zones indicate that tar roads under Nehru Nagar, Lakadganj and Mangalwari zones are in a bad shape. Most of the roads are owned by the civic body.
According to the inspection, 32 roads under Satranjipura zone are in bad shape, 15 tar roads under Dharampeth zone have developed potholes due to lack of maintenance. Even 24 roads under Lakadganj zone, especially in Pardi and Kalamna etc need immediate repairs. In Ashi Nagar zone, four tar roads owned by the civic body are in a bad shape.
Similarly, 17 roads in Mangalwari zone, mostly owned by NMC, are marred with potholes. Despite repeated complaints to former corporators, nothing has helped to improve the motorable condition of roads, said Piyush Mishra, a resident of Ganapati Nagar.
Though NMC is claiming to have started repairing potholes, motorists wondered how the repair works, started late, will sustain the onslaught of monsoon. Motorists also pointed out that at several places, layers of tar used to repair potholes have already started peeling off after the monsoon hit the city.
