The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is at it again.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is at it again. A couple of days after promising that it would fix the potholes across the city by Monday, it dashed citizens’ hopes of a smooth ride any time soon by extending the deadline by six months. Although the work on the 100 roads began on Monday, it would now go on for up to six months.
A senior civic official confirmed that the BMC would not fix potholes on about 100 roads, as work to fix these roads would be taken up during the annual road repairs work. This would be done to minimise duplication of work.
The latest deadline set by municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta for the civic roads department to fix potholes across the city lapsed on Monday. Although the roads department initially claimed that there are no more potholes in the city, it later admitted that they are still there on some 100 roads, repair work for which had been taken up.
Chief engineer of roads Sanjay Darade said, “There is no point in duplicating work and wasting money. We will be digging up 100 roads by Monday, so there is no point in temporarily filling them all up first.”
Some of the roads where work was to begin on Monday include G.D. Ambedkar Marg, Sr. B.A. Road, Pandurang Budhkar Marg, N.C Kelkar Road and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road in the island city, and Andheri Ghatkopar Link Road, R.C. Marg Chembur, Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road, S.V. Road, N.S. Phadke Road, Goregaon Mulund Link Road, and Andheri-Kurla Road in the suburbs.
Meanwhile, 80 per cent of annual road repairs have been handed over to contractors tainted in the road scam exposed by Mr Mehta earlier this year.
