Nagpur residents, who have often faced problems due to repeated digging and potholes on roads, may finally see some relief. The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has introduced a strict Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for road repairs under the AMRUT 2.0 project, following the laying of sewer lines for the Pohra River Pollution Control Project.
Approved by Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Chaudhari, the SOP includes a step-by-step process for digging, laying pipes, filling up the area, and completing road repairs. A 95% compaction level will be required at each step to ensure quality, and this will be checked by the Project Management Consultant (PMC).
The SOP also includes specific guidelines for repairing different types of roads. For bituminous roads, the repair will be done in layers—250mm of granular sub-base (GSB), 150mm of wet mix macadam (WMM), and 70mm of bitumen. For cement concrete roads, the structure will include 200mm of GSB, 100 to 150mm of dry lean concrete, and M-40 pavement quality concrete (PQC), with proper curing made compulsory.
Contractors will be required to upload five geo-tagged and timestamped photos at each stage of the work—bedding, pipe laying, partial refilling, full refilling, and final resurfacing. Payments will be cleared only after these photos are submitted.
Additionally, safety and environmental standards must be adhered to, including the installation of barricades, signage, PPE, and pedestrian pathways. Any violation of the SOP can result in the work being rejected, penalties being imposed, or contractors being asked to redo the task.
NMC sees this as a significant step towards resolving the grievances of citizens by ensuring accountability and quality control in road repairs.