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  Metros   Mumbai  08 Aug 2018  BMC rejects proposal for water-absorbing roads

BMC rejects proposal for water-absorbing roads

THE ASIAN AGE.
Published : Aug 8, 2018, 2:52 am IST
Updated : Aug 8, 2018, 2:52 am IST

The BMC has cited reasons like unsuitability and high costs for its decision.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (Photo: PTI)
 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is facing severe flak over its failure to find a new technology to improve city roads, the civic body has turned down corporators’ demand to construct water-absorbing roads in the city. The BMC has cited reasons like unsuitability and high costs for its decision.

The technology would not survive on city roads due to factors like large number of vehicles, heavy vehicles and heavy rainfall, the civic roads department said.

Former Congress corporator Parminder Bhamra had proposed construction of roads by using water-absorbing technology, in Mumbai. It  is common in Netherlands.

“In Mumbai, a large amount of land has been covered by cement concrete, due to which lot of water does not get absorbed and gets discharged from gutters and nullahs. Hence, water-absorbing roads would enable underground water levels to go up and prevent floods,” he had said.

However, the roads department has expressed its inability to construct such roads in the city. They said, “Roads in Mumbai are constructed as per the norms made by Indian Road Congress (IRC) and Ministry of Roads Transport and Highways (MORTH). These norms are made by considering factors like density of traffic, storm water drains etc.”

The cost required for building these roads is very high and also they may require frequent maintenance, a senior civic official said.

Tags: brihanmumbai municipal corporation, water absorbing roads