Will repair potholes ahead of ganpati fest: BMC to mandals

Ahead of the Ganpati festival, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has assured mandals across the city that the roads, on the routes through which idols are brought and later taken for immersion, would be made pothole-free. In case the contractors concerned fail to fill up the potholes, the BMC would repair the same and recover the costs from the contractors, informed civic officials.

The development comes following a meeting of Ganpati mandal organisers and civic officials at the BMC headquarters on Tuesday. At the meeting, civic chief Ajoy Mehta assured the organisers that roads in the city would be smoothened for the festival. “The BMC would repair potholes on prime spots to enable easy arrival of the Ganpati idols. If the contractors appointed for the road repairs fail to level the potholes, the civic body itself would carry out the task and later recover the costs from the same contractors,” said a senior civic official.

Mr Mehta also assured that trees across the city would be trimmed before the Ganpati idols are brought in. Public awareness drives on cleanliness would also be conducted at various places, he added. “The mandals would start bringing idols in their pandals after August 21. We want roads to be made pothole-free before that so that the idols arrive hassle-free,” said Suresh Sarnobat, secretary, Akhil Bhartiya Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mahasangh. The organisations also urged the BMC to provide more facilities at Powai, one of the major immersion centres in the eastern suburbs.

“The BMC should pay more attention to the eastern suburbs, where the immersion of Ganpati idols had been on the rise in the last few years. It concentrates only on the city and western suburbs. At Powai alone, more than 5,000 Ganpati immersions take place every year,\" said Mr Sarnobat.