Citizens reject BMC’s claim of over 69K potholes fixed

MUMBAI On Tuesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that since May 1 it has filled 69,533 potholes in the city and suburbs, emphasising that the western suburbs were the worst affected. While the figure is encouraging on paper, citizens have looked upon it with scepticism as the reality on the roads contradicts BMC’s claim. They allege that despite spending hundreds of crores on new technologies to deal with the issue, BMC has been using paver blocks to fill potholes as a stop-gap measure.

“The civic body has floated multiple tenders to use technologies such as reactive asphalt, rapid hardening concrete and cold mix; and yet potholes in the western suburbs are being filled using paver blocks. The condition of the roads has not improved, especially in stretches like Link Road, SV Road and some internal roads,” said advocate Trivankumar Karnani, a member of Mumbai North Central District Forum, voicing the distress of many citizens. Karnani called attention to the civic body’s “criminal waste of tax payers’ money” and said “erring officials must be booked under various sections of the IPC”.

Meanwhile, the civic body has claimed that it has levied a penalty of ₹28.15 crore on contractors who failed to do their jobs after tenders were awarded to concretise various roads across the city.

The road concretisation project worth ₹6079 crore stretching approximately 400 kilometers, was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2023. “The tender conditions mandate that contractors keep the roads motorable till concretisation work is complete. Hence, the responsibility of fixing potholes on these roads are on them,” said a civic official from the roads department.

A ward official requesting anonymity however said that getting the contractors to abide by the norms of the mega tenders is a Herculean task. He said that the worst roads came under the concretisation project, however the work did not start till monsoons. “The contractors were supposed to maintain these roads. We had to request them many times to fill the potholes, especially before Ganeshotsav. They do not listen to us,” said the officer. Another BMC official explained that paver blocks are only used to fill potholes when it rains incessantly. “It is a temporary measure – the potholes need to be later fixed properly. Even the mega tender contractors are using paver blocks to fill these potholes.”

The blame game does not sit easy on citizens. As Rakesh Valeja, a Bhandup resident, said, “The entire stretch of LBS Road from Bhandup to Mulund has potholes on several patches and ongoing metro work has led to the road becoming narrow. Political leaders in this area do not pay heed to citizen’s complaints, just as BMC continues to neglect its responsibilities.”

BMC officials had earlier stated that the responsibility of maintaining the roads where the metro project is on, rests with MMRDA when the project is ongoing.