BMC announces plans to use geosynthetic products to repair roads

In what may be regarded as a significant push to India’s geosynthetic market, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has recently announced that it is planning to use geosynthetic products to improve the current state of highway & road conditions in Mumbai. As has been reported, geosynthetic products significantly reduce the damage done to roads by heavy vehicular traffic.According to reliable sources, the BMC plans to make use of geogrid – a material that can be placed in between two layers of the road to prevent damage. Apparently, the use of this new material in road damage prevention is being made on a pilot basis and will be first tested on certain stretches of the suburbs that specifically witness heavy vehicle traffic.

For the record, geosynthetics are products made from polymers and are predominantly used to stabilize terrain owing to its superior tensile strength, compatibility, porosity, and permeability.

Speaking on the development, a BMC official was quoted stating that the product is expected to enhance the overall load distribution when a large number of vehicles ply on the road. He further stated that the municipal body would monitor the results that would be received after the material is applied.

As per the reports, the municipal body has been at the receiving end of complaints over the terrible of road condition. In each monsoon, the roads of Mumbai are swamped with potholes due to the depreciated-quality of construction, something which was also highlighted in a recent road scam revelations. Understandably now the civic body is using the geosynthetic product imported from geosynthetic industry from Austria and Israel to fill potholes.

Meanwhile, the geosynthetic market experts speculate that latest move of the BMC would favorably influence the growth prospects of this business space in India.