Vadodara roads riddled with potholes VMC gives contractors one week to act
Vadodara is once again grappling with crumbling roads and pothole hazards as the monsoon exposes long-standing lapses in public infrastructure. In response, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has issued a final warning to contractors, giving them just one week to complete urgent road repairs across the city.
Municipal Commissioner Arun Mahesh Babu chaired a high-level review meeting with the city’s road, drainage, and water departments to crack down on poor execution and lack of coordination between agencies. He emphasized that while roads appear to be the culprit, a significant share of the potholes have emerged due to incomplete or improperly covered drainage and water pipeline works. “The repair work isn’t just delayed; it’s substandard,” said Babu. “Contractors are loosely patching roads with cold mix without rolling it properly. Given that they’re bound by a five-year defect liability period, there’s no excuse for this negligence.”
To fix accountability, VMC has issued 11 notices to deputy engineers across different zones. These engineers have now been instructed to penalize the contractors responsible for shoddy work. If a contractor is blacklisted three times, Babu confirmed that VMC will initiate further legal action. Babu further stated that coordination, not blame, is the need of the hour. “Of the nine notices issued last week, four were directed to the water and drainage departments. The ultimate goal is to satisfy citizens—not bureaucratic checklists,” he added.
Looking at long-term solutions, VMC is bringing in external experts. A team from IIT Roorkee’s Department of Hydrology will soon visit Vadodara to recommend integrated solutions for the city’s drainage and groundwater issues. Simultaneously, infrastructure giants like Tata Projects, L&T, and IRB are being consulted on implementing RCC (Reinforced Cement Concrete) roads across the city to ensure durable infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has started resurfacing a heavily damaged 15-km stretch on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai NH-48 highway between Vadodara and Bharuch. Over 60 machines and 100 workers are working round the clock to restore this key transport route.
