Nala Widening provides a Permanent Solution for improving roads

 Laying city roads using sophisticated bitumen (BT) like crumb rubber modified bitumen (CRMB) and polymer modified bitumen (PNB) will not improve the life of city roads. Experts say using such bitumen will provide some relief but not solve the problem permanently.

This is because the prime culprit is the encroachments on nalas; without removing these encroachments and widening the nalas, waterlogging points will continue to form and eventually result in formation of potholes and craters. Moreover, CRMB costs 10 per cent more than normal BT and PNB 40 per cent more.  According to highly placed sources, the corporation has been providing multiple temporary solutions to impress their political bosses, but these will not produce tangible results.

The corporation was to clear 47 critical bottlenecks at an estimated cost of Rs 230 crore. Some 800 structures were identified for demolition. But the project has been proceeding at a snail’s pace. Every year, during the monsoon season, parts of the city get flooded because of encroachments on the nalas which decreases the ability of these drainage channels to carry off the extra water. Yet, neither the government nor the opposition parties take any notice. Tenders for the 47 bottlenecks were invited in July last year. But tenders for only 23 have been finalised so far.

There was not a single bidder for the others, though the process of inviting tenders was repeated five times. Of the 800 encroachments on these 47 nalas, the corporation has managed to clear only 242 in more than a year. K.M. Lakshmana Rao, head of the civil engineering department at JNTU said that even though nala widening provides a permanent solution for improving city roads, the corporation has basic structural problems. He said that the corporation’s conventional methods will not give any relief to commuters but will only increase costs for the GHMC.

“City roads can get better if scientific methods are followed in laying them but the corporation has not done this for several years,” he added.When this view was put to a senior corporation official, he said, on condition of anonymity, that laying German technology roads, micro surfacing roads, PNB, CRMB, plastic roads, was like keeping a patient alive through medication. He said that the quality of roads will not improve if the city does not have an effective storm water drainage system.

“Without removing the encroachments on city nalas and widening them, the condition of roads will not improve, no matter what advanced technologies you use,” he said.