Road contractors seek government help on rising bitumen prices

Ghaziabad: GMC contractors say they have been left out in the cold by the UP govt, which recently asked for PWD and NHAI contractors to be compensated for the soaring bitumen prices.Members of the GMC contractors’ association met cabinet minister and Sahibabad MLA Sunil Sharma on Thursday, seeking immediate intervention so that road repair work that has got stalled across the city can be resumed.A global bitumen shortage, driven by the West Asia crisis, has disrupted repair work on 112 km of roads under GMC, with the monsoon just weeks away.Sharma told TOI he is scheduled to meet chief minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on Friday. “I expect that a fresh govt order will be issued on bitumen rate,” he said. Sharma expects GMC and other municipal agencies to get some relief.GMC contractor Sanjiv Tyagi and spokesperson of the contractors’ group Hotmix Plant Association said, “If we get to work now, we will incur a loss of up to 30%. At present, bitumen is priced between Rs 76,000 and Rs 82,000 per metric tonne against Rs 47,000 per metric tonne in Feb when the tender and work order were issued. So contractors have stopped work across the city.”There are over 20 contractors with GMC who have been awarded 112 km of repair work worth Rs 200 crore, covering 85 road stretches. If these stretches are not repaired, residents in low-lying stretches will face waterlogging and disruption during the rainsTyagi explained that the VG-40 grade of bitumen is used for road repair work. It is viscosity-graded bitumen — hardness- and temperature-resistant — and it acts as the adhesive that binds road construction material together. More than 88% of petroleum products come from West Asia, and the ongoing crisis has disrupted supply chains, causing both a shortage and a sharp rise in prices.