After the joke which is ' Smart City Panjim', the government is now thinking of 'smart roads' wherein a layer of @ 8" thick M40 grade concrete topping is laid on the surface of pre existing asphalt roads, it will supposedly increase the lifespan of the roads by as much as 30 years. The cost of implementing this amounts to @ Rs 1 crore/ km, also the curing period for the concrete topping is at least 30 days for which the road will have to be kept closed. This begs the question- how can you put additional weight on an asphalt road which is already poorly constructed and for which no proper mix of road metal has been used or the base compacted ; this is what leads to potholes every monsoons. Previous to this the jet patching machine was touted as a panacea to all ills plaguing our roads, it proved to be a colossal failure. Why can't we construct our roads under strict supervision of the PWD engineers ensuring that all quality parameters are met. These proposed smart roads seem to be stinking of another scam.
