‘BMC, PWD kill us before potholes do’

Mumbai: On Sunday, a group of 30 young people from Thane stood along the Mulund Toll Naka from 2 pm to 5 pm, with garlanded photo frames bearing their own faces. This gathering was to protest against the pothole-ridden stretch between Kalyan and Dombivli that claimed fifth life this month with the death of 29-year old Kalpesh Jadhav.

“The idea was to tell the BMC and PWD officials, ‘You kill us, before the potholes do’,” said Nishant Bangera, the founder of the Thane based NGO, Muse, and the organizer of the protest.

The first part of this campaign began with a FB page, PWD: Pothole Warrior Department, followed by a campaign called ‘#Mera-KhaddhaMahan’ asking Mumbaikars to send in pictures of the biggest potholes in their areas, which were transformed into funny memes. “The winners were gifted a first-aid box” said Nishant.

Various volunteers from around Thane and Mulund also joined the protest, shouting slogans such as “Toll, Toll, Toll sabse bada chor”, demanding accountability of taxpayer’s money.

Last week Marol resident, Mohan Kumar, stood in protest outside the BMC building in CST with a placard that read “Road to hell” accompanied by pictures of potholes from his area.

Amritha Mohan, the co-founder of Muse said, “We are paying taxes and tolls, but there is no accountability as to where our money goes, we need to question the government.”

Last week, RJ Malishka Mendonsa also came up with ‘Geli Mumbai Khaddyat’ a pothole parody of the famous Marathi song Zingaat.

Mahim residents Irfan Macchiwala and Mushtaq Ansari have almost filled 50 potholes along the Western Express Highway, Dharavi Junction, and Bandra Bandstand since April, “We fill potholes using the rubble, bricks and stones or abandoned construction debris that we find,” said Irfan.

Andheri resident Navin Lade has nominated Mumbai for the maximum number of potholes in the world to the Guinness book of world records. To prove the veracity of his claims, he urged Mumbaikars to send in pictures in order to collect at least 20,000 pictures, “Once we receive the certificate from Guinness world records I will hand it over to the BMC as a reminder of their inaction,” he said.