Roads to get Midas Touch' this monsoon
Civic officials said they had tried five cold-mix materials during last years' monsoon to test their usefulness.
Mumbai: This monsoon, roads in Mumbai are set to get a ‘Midas Touch.’ To tackle the pothole menace, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to use Austrian technology called ‘Midas Touch’ to repair roads during monsoon.
According to civic officials, the BMC has appointed two companies — EcoGreen Infrastructure and SmartAge Products — to supply cold-mix material to fill potholes during monsoon. While EcoGreen will supply Austrian made Midas Touch, SmartAge will provide Israeli made Smart-Fill material.
“These are patented products, which can are useful even during rains. They are fast setting material, which become compact immediately after putting them into potholes. We have procured 38 tonnes of cold-mix material from these two companies at the cost of Rs 70 lakh,” said additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh.
Civic officials said they had tried five cold-mix materials during last years’ monsoon to test their usefulness. Of them, Midas Touch and Smart-Fill were found to be durable during the monsoon for pothole-filling works.
“These two materials will be used during the rains. When there is no rain, we will use material made up in civic asphalt plants to repair potholes,” said Mr Deshmukh.
As a part of monsoon preparations, the BMC has identified 66 chronic waterlogging spots out of 270 places identified as waterlogging spots. At these locations, 313 de-watering pumps will be installed to ensure discharge of flooded water from city nullahs.
According to BMC data, about 80 percent of roadworks in the city have been completed. Of the 110 priority I and 248 priority II roads, 103 and 80 have been completed respectively. Of the 415 project roads, 323 have been completed.
“In case of non-completed roads, we will ensure that they will be in motorable condition during monsoon,” said Mr Deshmukh.