Bombay HC tells officials to solve pothole menace

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has asked BMC, MMRDA, Port Trust, MSRDC and Mumbai traffic police to come up with a permanent solution to solve the issue of potholes and bad roads in the city.

The Bombay High court has kept the case for hearing on March 10 in the conference room, where all authorities will be asked to discuss their role in finding the solution for the menace of potholes in the city.  

The division bench of justice V.M. Kanade and justice P.R. Bora was hearing a suo moto PIL on the issue of potholes following a letter by justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay high court in 2015.

The Bombay high court observed that despite several orders the concerned authorities did nothing about the pothole menace and there have been several pothole related deaths in the city.

Responding to the Bombay high court’s observations, senior advocate Anil Sakhare on behalf of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informed the court that the corporation was carrying out repair work at 94 critical roads and junctions. “Several departments are responsible for road maintenance, there is a need for better coordination,” said Mr Sakhare. He also added that the BMC blacklisted 21 contractors.

Justice Kanade said, “The road repair work in the city should be taken up on a war-footing basis.”