Stung by parody, civic body plugs potholes

Mumbai: Call it the Malishka effect but the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was stunned by the tremendous flak it received due to radio jockey Malishka’s parody song, which was sung on Red FM. To avoid further embarrassment, the civic body has undertaken road repairs works on a large scale. Take the case of Western Express Highway near Vakola police station. During the monsoon, huge craters were seen causing great inconvenience to people. But after the monsoons, the civic body has repaired the rough patch, allowing for a smooth run of traffic now.

It all started this monsoon with a parody song that went, “Mumbai, Tula BMC var Bharosa Nay Ka? (Mumbai, don't you have faith in the BMC?)”. With the city grappling with pockmarked roads, this parody, mocking the BMC over potholes, became a huge talking point in the city. The song went viral on social media and became an instant hit. The song talks about Mumbaikars having lost confidence in the civic body for tackling its monsoon problems. It says that there are potholes on city roads due to zol (read as corruption) in road works. The traffic signals too have failed to tackle jams in the city.

However, the Shiv Sena, the ruling party in the BMC, did not take to the song kindly and was livid. What followed was a witch hunt with the civic body sending a notice to Malishka's mother for mosquitoes breeding at her Bandra house. The Sena went a step further by asking BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta to file a defamation case of Rs 500 crore on Malishka and her radio station.

RJ Malishka

Civic activists said that the parody acted as a catalyst for Mumbaikars to vent their ire against the shoddy road work in the city. “The fact that Malishka received tremendous support on social media showed that Mumbaikars are fed up with the BMC's corrupt practices.”

BMC officials said that the civic body has taken up repairs of over 1000 roads works across the city at an estimated cost of Rs 852 crore after the monsoon. The work included 1668 roads of 459.48 kms and 112 junctions, which will be carried out phase-wise.

“In addition, the BMC has also undertaken resurfacing of another 1000 roads, which will be carried out as per their priority. Priority one has been accorded to roads, which have developed many potholes due to recent heavy rainfall. Priority two would be accorded to roads, which have lesser craters while priority three are roads whose condition is deteriorating and need to be repaired,” said a senior civic official from the roads department. “The BMC has also planned to repair 1,105 project roads across the city in a phased manner to ensure that city roads are in better condition next year,” he added.