Use scientific ways to build roads: Bombay High Court

The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to use scientific techniques for construction of roads and maintenance and also to give wide publicity to its grievance redressal system so that people can complain about potholes and streets in need of repair.

The division bench of Justice Shantanu Kemkar and Justice M.S. Karnik passed this order on a PIL highlighting the poor condition of roads in the state and incidents of motorists losing their lives due to pothole-ridden roads. The court had taken a suo motu cognisance of the matter when Justice Gautam Patel of the high court had written about the pathetic conditions of roads in Mumbai.

In the past, while hearing this same PIL, another bench of the HC had observed that citizens have a fundamental right to good roads.

The division bench headed by Justice Kemkar in its order on Wednesday observed that various useful suggestions have not been addressed by the Municipal Corporation as they pertain to other departments and hence the bench directed the BMC to coordinate with all the agencies concerned and deal with the respective problems.

The bench also directed the BMC and other agencies (MMRDA, MSRDC and Mumbai Port Trust) involved in the maintenance of roads to implement the order passed by the HC on May 20 last year and ensure that scientific techniques are used for the construction and maintenance of streets and carrying out repairs. “We expect the MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) to give wide publicity through every possible mode to the grievance redressal mechanism,” observed the bench.