Implementing Road Maintenance Management System

In the existing system, the utility services buried under the roads are accessible for maintenance and repair only by trenching. This is done by the respective utility agency after obtaining permission to do so from the respective ward and traffic police. However, the reinstatement is done by the CWC maintaining the road or the contractor who is maintaining the road under the Central Agency contract. What is found lacking in this process is the systematic monitoring by the MCGM as well as other prime agencies which have jurisdiction over some roads in Mumbai. There is also a lack of proper co-ordination among the Central Road Agency of MCGM, the wards and various utility services agencies.

By making information of state of individual roads available to all concerned, including the citizens, using internet technology, it is felt that there would not only be proper co-ordination among various concerned parties, but it will also help in proper monitoring which will lead to proper usable conditions of roads for all sections of road users throughout the year.

Some points to be kept in mind:

1. The Road Maintenance Management System (RMMS) should be internet based, accessible to all concerned and the citizens.

2. Content of the RMMS should essentially be “Road History and Status Card (Road Card)” for every individual stretch of road within the Beat territory of MCGM, irrespective of whose jurisdiction the road falls under.

3. The Road Card will contain information on the road, including entire inventory and serviceability condition as well as the proposed planned utility work. It should be updated whenever a beat engineer makes an inspection visit to the road. This must be done once a week at least.

4. Three types of information about the road will be put on the Road Card.

(a) Permanent Information: Road Name, Stretch from-to, the Ward, the Beat Number, Jurisdiction (MCGM, MMRDA etc.), type of road surface, existence of footpaths, etc.

(b) Infrequently changing information: Whether under DLP, Name of Contractor servicing DLP, whether under Central Road Agency or Ward, when the road was last reconstructed, date of completion of DLP, etc. and the name of the CWC.

(c) Monitoring Information: Noting any item on the road that is not proper- e.g. potholes, bad patches, footpaths and if road is improperly repaired, improperly laid steel plates over valve chambers, missing or improperly laid manhole covers and water entrance grills, kerb-stones, set-stones and water-tables, road dividers, zebra crossings and lane markings, etc. The list can be added dynamically. The monitoring information would help in the efforts to identify or rectify the problems.

5. Every Beat Area is assigned an engineer to attend to the maintenance of municipal properties in the Beat. This also includes the roads.

6. The beat engineer will cover every day on foot up to 2km (average 1.7km.) of roads in his Beat and record the Monitoring Information on a register and transfer the data on to the RMMS from any PC by end of the day or enter it on a “Palmtop” PC and download onto the RMMS from any Ward office PC. This will ensure revisit to the road in a week. The task of covering upto 2km daily and entering into the Road Maintenance Management System is expected to take less than one hour.

7. The system should keep track of

(a) frequency of revisit to a road

(b) duration of unattended problem or item, etc. and flash the information for corrective action by the concerned persons.

8. This beat engineer will cover even the roads in the jurisdiction of MMRDA, MSRDC, PWD and MbPT falling within the beat territory.

9. Action Taken Report (ATR) must also be recorded: i.e.

(a) Order is sent to carry out rectification work

(b) Commencement of work

(c) Completion of work.

10. Posting of application for trenching must also be put on the Road Card to assist simultaneous execution of trenching and reconstruction on any given road. This will minimise some duplication of expenses and duration of inconvenience to the road users.

11.The entire information should be accessible to any citizen for viewing. At the same time, he too should be enabled to enter his observation. Since information on any road will be accessible to any interested party including those responsible for the reconstruction and repair of roads, municipal utility agencies and outside agencies, it is expected that better co-ordination will be achieved.

It is learnt that MCGM has appointed a consultant to prepare a comprehensive Road Maintenance Management System. It is taking an inordinately long time for it to be implemented. This means there is no political will. Political will comes from citizen involvement and RMMS provides this opportunity.

Sunil Badami

Transportation Analyst