The Real Cost Of Potholes
Potholes have become a regular sight on our city roads, especially during the monsoon season. The traffic police in Bengaluru identified 360 accident-causing potholes in the city, and in Mumbai, there were 83 reported potholes in Bandra alone. Although the primary inconvenience with potholes is the increased commuting time - with as much as a 6% increase in Bengaluru in 2018- the fact is potholes have many more far-reaching consequences.
Longer commuting times have been shown to affect mental health by causing an increase in stress levels, sleep disturbances, fatigue and concentration problems among commuters, especially in drivers. The troubles don’t end there. From a cost standpoint, aside from the increased fuel consumption arising from traffic congestion, vehicles driven on roads laden with potholes experience significantly higher wear and tear. Frequent punctures, damaged suspensions, misaligned wheels, and undercarriage dents are just a few of the issues that cause frequent trips to the mechanic, leading to increased vehicle insurance premiums.
On a broader scale, the Indian economy loses almost 3%of its GDP, amounting to Rs.55,000 crore ($8.2 billion), every year from road accidents. The poor road infrastructure needs immediate attention; else, the Indian economy could stand to lose between 7 to 22% in per capita GDP growth over the next 24 years. Additionally, businesses in India might soon start to feel the pinch of increased commute times, as a study revealed that employees expect their commute time to be included in their work hours. This change would translate to lower productivity and profitability from the decreased person-hours.
In just the last three years, there have been over 25,000 reported injuries relating to potholes. And, in the previous four years, the number of medical cases involving backaches, neck pain, cervical spine pain, whiplash injuries, and skeletomuscular problems have shot up by almost 20%. The culprit seems to be travel on poor quality roads and more commonly, driving over potholes. Even avoiding potholes doesn't bypass the problem because the constant braking and sharp turns to drive around them still end up placing undue stress on the spine and also cause slip disc in extreme cases.
Potholes are health hazards at best and death-traps at worst. With over 15,000 pothole-related deaths in the last five years, the Supreme Court noted that on an average more people die from pothole-related accidents than border clashes or terrorist incidents.
The existing solutions to potholes, though quick to implement, aren't effective, and that has to do with the fact that the standard repair methods, including filling in potholes with a hot or cold mix asphalt or slurry sealing, are still asphalt-based. They bring with them the same issues asphalt does, mainly poor durability and low resistance to weather changes.
What the country needs is better repair methods or a completely new system that eliminates potholes from forming in the first place. The consequent absence of potholes and year-round road durability regardless of the weather would have a substantial impact on not just the country's economy, but the quality of life of its citizens.
Such solutions already exist, with white topping being one of them. This method has been successfully implemented in major Indian cities, including Gujarat, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, and multiple locations in New Delhi. Not only does it prevent potholes but also offers some benefits to commuters in the form of lower fuel consumption, smoother riding experience, shorter travel time, increased night visibility and a decrease in noise pollution. It requires virtually zero maintenance and can be easily integrated with existing asphalt roads by merely adding a layer of concrete over it.
India’s automobile sales have, until recently, been steadily increasing at 6.71% CAGR from 2013 to 2019, with 26.27 million vehicles sold in the financial year of 2019. This has seen an increase in vehicle registration by almost three times, but the Indian road network only grew barely a third in the last decade. If this trend continues, the nation is headed towards severely congested roads in the near future. Road widening projects can only do so much with the limited road real estate available. Rather, a more concrete solution would be to make the best use of the road area already available and switch to a better material for the construction of roads.
