#dnaEdit: Smooth ride

It took none other than the judiciary to come up with a solution to the crisis that has long plagued the daily life of the citizens of Maharashtra — especially in the urban areas. During the hearing of a suo motu PIL, the Bombay high court observed that it is the fundamental right — under Article 21 (Right to Life) — of the citizens to enjoy roads in reasonably good conditions. Further, it directed the municipal corporations, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation to ensure pothole-free roads — a long-standing demand of the people. 

For civic bodies and state authorities, road-repairing is lucrative business. The annual exercise, usually undertaken before the monsoon, is steeped in corruption, reaping huge financial gains for the official-corporator-contractor nexus. A long-term solution runs against their interests — the reason why potholes keep surfacing  at regular intervals. But, with the high court cracking the whip and trying to ensure a modicum of transparency, the situation on the ground is slated to improve. The court order also emphasises the need to maintain sidewalks, most of which have been illegally occupied by hawkers, forcing pedestrians to walk on traffic-heavy roads, which puts their lives at grave risk. The BMC and other civic bodies will now have to demonstrate sincerity in tackling the issue of encroachment and overcome opposition from political parties. 

As of now, 174 roads in the metropolis are dug-up ostensibly for repairs, when the monsoon is only a few days away. In the rush to meet the deadline, the quality of work is likely to suffer. This only signifies that few months from now, after the city has been lashed by rains, the top layer of the roads will give away, leaving craters for pedestrians and motorists to negotiate. Before that, of course, citizens will have to contend with waterlogged streets because the clogged-with-waste stormwater drains — choked with plastic, mostly — won’t be able to function smoothly. 

Potholes routinely claim lives, and there is no compensation for the victims’ families. Early this month, a 30-year-old motorcyclist met with a fatal accident in Kalyan. In April, a woman riding pillion on a scooter with her husband fell off the two-wheeler when he tried to avoid a pothole in Mahim. Lest we forget, it is because of potholes that vehicle-owners have to routinely spend a fortune towards repairs. 

The BMC regularly seeks foreign expertise to cure this perennial problem — German, South African and Canadian technologies had been pressed into service earlier, but to no avail. The court had rightly chastised Mumbai and Thane authorities when they proffered the excuse of heavy rains for deplorable conditions. Over the last five years, there has been a steady decline in the amount of annual rainfall Mumbai received, but no decline in the number of potholes. More importantly, the alibi underscores how indifferent and ill-equipped civic authorities have been in dealing with a chronic problem. 

The high court’s several measures to make the authorities responsible, include establishing a system where citizens can file complaints — written and oral — about bad roads through websites and by calling toll-free numbers, respectively. They can even upload photographs to buttress their grievances. Civic bodies will now have to put in place a mechanism to ensure all of these, and pull up their socks, finally. 

For a city aspiring to be Shanghai, the journey to success entails a smooth, hassle-free ride for the people.