AP govt plans to expand “Road Doctor” services across more ULBs

Vijayawada: Buoyed by the success of the “Road Doctor”, an Infrared Recycling Pothole and Road Repairing Machine that has enabled municipalities to repair potholes swiftly in urban local bodies across the state, the State Government is planning to deploy the new mobile road repairing machines in more and more urban local bodies across the state. Currently, the Road Doctor repair machines are being used in six municipal corporations including Vijayawada, Guntur, and Managalgiri - Tadepalli, the three major municipal corporations within Amaravati capital area along with Kakinada, Rajamahendravaram and Tirupati.

The Infrared Recycling Pothole and Road Repairing Machine, each costing Rs 1.48 crore have been procured from the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) project funds provided to the respective municipal corporations.

The first-of-its-kind mobile road repairing machine will aid the civic bodies to rapidly fill the potholes and repair the road patches by reheating and recycling the existing asphalt instead of using freshly used bitumen. Unlike conventional road repairing methods, the mobile road repairing machine restores the damaged portions at the same temperature, ensuring durability compared to new asphalt while reducing carbon emissions emitted while heating bitumen.

“Going by the success of the Road Doctor machines in the six municipal corporations, the government is now contemplating to expand the mobile road repairing machines to other uncovered urban local bodies. While the existing machines are procured using the NCAP funds available with municipal corporations, a new tender will be floated and an agency will be engaged to repair the road and fill potholes,” MAUD (public health) Prabahakar Rao said.

The official said the government plans to expand the road repairing machines next to smaller municipalities in the state. “Since the volume of works in municipalities where majority of roads will be CC roads and that BT roads will be less, the government will take around 10 municipalities as one unit and engage one agency which will be paid based on the volume of works they execute in the designated municipalities,” Prabhakar Rao added.

The official further added that the road repair works using the mobile road repairing machine are being executed during night time to avoid inconvenience to commuters during day.