MCD gears up for monsoon with new pothole repair machine

NEW DELHI - The capital’s civic authorities, now gearing up for the monsoon, Monday unveiled a new pothole repairing machine. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) claimed it was the first in the country to procure such equipment.

The new machine uses infrared rays to smoothen and compact the road’s surface. Manufactured in Britain, it costs about Rs.1.10 crore.

This machine will repair the patches and potholes on MCD roads with hot bitumen mix. On an average, this machine can lay 16 patches of two metres by one in eight hours.

“If the potholes are nearer to each other, then more can be filled. It is for the first time that technology using infrared rays giving the surface treatment of 200 degree Celsius is being used,” an MCD official said.

Launching the machine at Moti Nagar in west Delhi, Leader of the MCD House Subhash Arya said: “The main advantage of the new machine would be smoothness and compactness of the road surface and less consumption of time in repair work. The traffic on the roads can resume in 30 minutes after the repair work was carried out.”

The MCD has purchased this machine as a pilot project. If it is successful on the capital’s roads, then the civic body is planning to buy more such machines. The manufacturer will operate and maintain the machine for two years as part of its warranty.