Upgraded hotmix plant functional, yet tender floated to asphalt road

Time of India

2 days ago

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Nagpur: Even as the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) recently commissioned its hotmix plant at Hingna after a long-overdue upgrade, the public works department (PWD) floated a tender for Rs24.73 lakh to asphalt a road in Shanti Niketan Colony in the Laxmi Nagar zone.
The move sparked criticism, as the internal tar road is in a poor condition and residents were demanding immediate repairs, which the plant was expected to handle efficiently.
Just a few weeks ago, a committee led by officiating chief engineer Manoj Talewar certified the new counter flow drum mix plant as fully functional. A comprehensive inspection on May 5, conducted by a six-member committee including officials from mechanical and hotmix departments, found all components such as the thermodrum unit, bitumen storage tanks, cold feeder and control cabin systems aligned with technical specifications.
During the trial, the plant produced a batch of bituminous mix (BM), which was found satisfactory. Only a minor issue of noise from the thermodrum's chain drive was noted and rectified with lubrication. Additionally, samples were tested and calibrated by a third-party lab, confirming the quality output of the plant.
With civic complaints rising and citizens demanding better infrastructure, NMC's decision to outsource a road project even after certifying its plant as operational raised serious concerns about administrative efficiency and public accountability.
However, Talewar defended the tender stating that "the plant has only recently become operational and is yet to run at full capacity." Ironically, the audit report signed by Talewar himself had confirmed the smooth functioning of the plant.
The new plant, capable of producing 60-90 tonnes of asphalt per hour (up from the previous 30 tonnes), was projected to significantly reduce NMC's dependency on private contractors.
Citing an example, an NMC official said that a 700-metre stretch at Manish Nagar was asphalted at a cost of Rs35 lakh by deploying services of the old hot-mix plant last year, while private firms would have quoted Rs1.5 crore for the same work.
The 25-year-old unit was dismantled and the upgraded facility was completed ahead of its May deadline by installing a modern Light Diesel Oil (LDO)-based drum mix plant. It was seen as a major step toward achieving transparency, quality control, and cost-effectiveness in roadwork, especially considering that NMC spends over Rs95 crore annually on outsourcing road repairs, compared to Rs5 crore on in-house operations.
A pre-monsoon survey by the hot mix department identified 497 potholes and 159 bad roads across the 10 zones, excluding roads managed by other agencies like the Nagpur Improvement Trust and the National Highways Authority of India. Subsequently, it sought details of bad roads from the zonal offices. None of the zones have so far submitted the lists of bad roads or potholes with locations, confirmed the official.