UTWT - A new roads technology

The onset of monsoons and harried people, it has been many years that the people of Mumbai have forgotten what it felt like to enjoy the rain. You raise your eyes to the sky to welcome the dark black clouds and imagine the cool water drops to quench the thirst of the hot earth. It is not much after, that you are thrown open to reality and the puddles and potholes that devour the roads become visible.

Most of us are victims of bad roads, unwalkable pavements, road works signs that are posted for months and endless traffic jams. These roads that are the lifelines of the city that transport the people to their work, homes or any other destination, but they are the most unreliable source of commutation. This year itself the first monsoons saw a reported 150 accidents in one day. We still have road works that are incomplete although they started long before the rains and still continue after them.

Have we not evolved at all, has there not been enough proof that the current situation of the roads is an absolute mess. Cracks are already showing on roads in less than a year since they have been laid out. Don’t the citizens of the city deserve a comfortable and a bump-free drive? When are we going to adopt more scientific approach and open our eyes to new technology?

In the midst if this chaos, there is an alternative solution that seeks a ear, some one to take notice of the benefits it has to offer. It is cost effective, scientifically proven and long lasting. UTWT (Ultra Thin White Topping) , is currently being tested on a 100m road patch in Thane on one of the busiest routes near the Ghantali Mandir. It has taken less than 10 days for Dr. Deshmukh and his team to dig out and re-lay the road. Work has been carried out during late night so that commuters have been least affected. It was only 2 days of stoppage time when traffic had to be diverted so that material could be set.

The everyday commuters themselves can make out the difference in the road and there are many who enquire if all roads can be similarly laid out. The answer is yes why not. But the message has to be spread; the concerned authorities have to be made aware. Today it because of the support the TMC has provided that we in Thane can hope of better roads in the not so distant future.