Raviprasad Kamila/The Hindu

• Corporation has been converting more and more roads into concrete ones 
• If the IRC standards are strictly adhered to, asphalted roads are durable too
• Accident-impact on humans on concrete roads is much severe, says expert

Mangalore, Aug 27: Judging by the thrust being given to cement road, the city corporation appears to believe that concreting is the panacea for all the ills afflicting the roads, particularly making them withstand the heavy rains that lash the region every monsoon.

The corporation has concreted five main road stretches and taken up concreting of three more. It plans to concrete four more shortly.

However, a few expert engineers say that concreting the roads is not the only solution. They even feel it is “not required.” Asphalted roads, if laid as per specifications with proper drainage facility can not only take the load of increased traffic but also withstand the heavy rain.

Cost implications

K. Basavarajappa, who retired as superintending engineer with the State Public Works Department and headed Shimoga Circle of the PWD, said: “The cost of laying one-km long concrete road is four to five times more than the cost of laying one km tar road. I have noticed that many interior roads in residential areas in the city are in poor condition. If the corporation stops spending heavily on concrete roads, a large number of interior as well as prominent roads can be improved.”

Mr. Basavarajappa said that asphalted roads should be laid with a slight downward curve from the middle of a road to each side so that rainwater does not stagnate and flows into stormwater drains. There should not be any choking in the drains, he added.

An engineer in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), who did not want his name to be mentioned, said that if a road was to be laid as per the specifications of the Indian Road Congress (IRC), it would cost Rs. 6 crore to lay 1 km of concrete road. Cost of laying 1-km asphalted road would be around Rs. 4 crore to Rs. 4.45 crore, he said. He said that in most of the roads in Mangalore were at a lower level than the adjoining houses or sites, resulting in stagnation of water on roads and choking of drains. “Even if the corporation increases the height and lays fresh asphalt, the cost of such roads will be less than laying a concrete road,” he said. The engineer said that while laying asphalted road, there should be a granular sub-base at the bottom. “This base drains out water in case it seeps in through the asphalt. It is important to ascertain if all asphalt roads have granular sub-base,” he said. Harinath, Leader of the Opposition in the city corporation council, said that there was no need for concrete roads in the city. The asphalted road in front of Kadri Park, from Circuit House to Padavu High School, was improved in 1999 and still strong. It was given a paper finishing last year. When vehicles plied on concrete roads, the tyres get eroded faster. Accident-impact on humans was much on concrete roads than on asphalted roads, he said.

MCC Unpurturbed

K. Naveenchandra, chairman, standing committee for Town Planning and Improvement in the corporation, said that concrete roads would last for 60 years. They would be maintenance-free and free from road-digging. “Considering the volume of rain in this region and the increasing traffic-density, concreting is the best solution,” he said.

He said problematic spots on some roads, Sanjeeevini building on the Falnir Road, for instance, where water stagnates during rainy season, would be concreted. In addition, the road leading from KSRTC Junction at Bejai to Kuntikana Junction on NH 17 would be concreted. The stretch in front of Hotel Moti Mahal on Falnir Road was laid in 1969.

It had not given way. Its finishing was not up to the mark, compared with the modern concrete roads, he said.