It takes `7,396 for civic body to fill each pothole
GHMC had earlier earmarked `1,600 for each pothole
Unbelievable, but true. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) spent `7,396 to fill each pothole in the city as the civic body itself testified to the court of law.
In the data submitted to the High Court, the corporation said it had spent
`180.08 crore to fill 2,43,455 potholes from financial year 2016-17 to till date. Though the corporation earmarked about `1,600 to repair each pothole, it has spent over four times the amount, according to the data. Surprisingly, the civic body, in its report, maintained that the decrease in number of potholes over the years was due to preventive and comprehensive steps taken under periodical preventive maintenance (PPM) and the recent comprehensive road maintenance plan (CRMP) programmes.
According to the data submitted to the High Court, the corporation deployed instant repair teams (IRT), which work during the non-monsoon period spanning from November 1 to May 31 every year. During the financial year 2017-18, it deployed 60 teams and spent `4.92 crore, 79 teams in 2018-19 and spent `6.91 crore, 157 teams in 2019-20 and spent `20.26 crore and
141 teams in 2020-21 and spent `48.82 crore. Overall, the GHMC spent
`48.28 crore on 437 IRT teams.
This apart, the corporation spent `95.77 crore on monsoon emergency teams (MET), which were placed to look after repair of roads, clear water stagnation on roads etc during June 1 to October 31. It deployed 173 teams and spent `21.68 crore during the financial year 2018-19, 153 teams and spent `22.92 crore in 2019-20, 170 teams and spent `24.53 crore and, in 2020-21, 195 teams and spent `26.64 crore.
In addition to the above teams, the GHMC also took up repair of potholes, cross cuttings and longitudinal cutting of roads using jet patcher or speed craft machines to ensure speedy and effective filling of potholes, as per the GO NO 271 dated April 18,2018. It used Shell Mac compound which is used for instant repair of potholes and depressions on roads permanently. It is an all-weather usage product and repairs can be made in wet conditions of monsoon, low temperatures of winter and high temperatures of summer. The treated surface can be opened for traffic immediately after treatment. The civic body has also used bulk bitumen, crushed metal and cationic emulsion to repair the potholes. The civic body spent `6.09 crore during financial year 2016-17 for procurement of pothole repair material to repair
86,884 potholes, `7.25 crore in 2017-18 to repair 56,769 potholes, `5.81 crore in
2018-19 to repair 42,870 potholes, `5.70 crore in
2019-20 to repair 41,836 potholes and `1.89 crore and in 2020-21 to repair
12,944 potholes. The corporation submitted to the court that it had repaired
2,152 potholes in 2021-22 as on date.
Overall, the corporation claimed that it had filled
2,43,455 potholes and spent `170.08 crore in the last five years.
A senior GHMC official, requesting anonymity, said additionally the corporation spent about `10 crore to procure the jet patchers. He said the overall amount spent on repairing potholes on city roads was `180.08 crore. When asked about spending `7,396 per pothole while the corporation allocated only `1,560 to fill each pothole, the official refused to comment on the issue.