According to the count, there are 53 potholes in the western suburban region, 21 in eastern parts and 19 in south Mumbai.
In a brazen act of irresponsible behaviour, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which missed its second deadline to fill potholes in the city, said on Sunday that there were only 93 potholes across Mumbai.
The civic body had earmarked August 26 as the last day for filling the potholes in the city ahead of the Ganesh festival. The corporation had also assured the Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS), an umbrella body for all Ganesh mandals in Mumbai, that potholes will be filled by this date. The Shiv Sena-led civic body, however, failed to keep their word and has now invited BSGSS' ire.
While statistics reflect that in 2016, the pothole count increased from 3491 to 3638, in its latest release, the corporation has announced that only 93 potholes across all major roads in the city remained to be filled.
Even as citizens continued to experience bad roads and aches, the civic body claimed on Saturday that these remaining 93 unattended potholes will be repaired within a day or two.
"The latest numbers available with the BMC show that there are only 93 potholes in the city," said deputy municipal commissioner of the General Administration Department, Sudhir Naik. He added that the numbers were generated from the complaints raised by citizens and others on the helpline and app developed by the BMC.
According to the count, there are 53 potholes in the western suburban region, 21 in eastern parts and 19 in south Mumbai.
Taking the civic body head-on, corporators cutting across party lines demanded that it must apologise to the BSGSS. Samajwadi Party's group leader Rais Shaikh said BMC's apathy seemed to have no limits. "The BMC must come out in the open and publicly tender a formal apology, not only to Ganesh mandals but also to citizens, for not being able to repair potholes within the deadline," said Shaikh. He cited an example of a pothole-ridden road in Byculla, where the contractor dumped layers of tar-gravel and made a speed-breaker on the location.
His demand was echoed by leader of opposition and Congress corporator Pravin Chheda. "Ganeshotav is around the corner and the roads continue to be in the most pathetic state ever. Potholes have not been repaired and more potholes are emerging everyday. I doubt that the BMC officers ever inspect the roads or probe the complaints by citizens or corporators," he said.
After a dry spell of several days, the city is once again seeing heavy showers since the last two days. The Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai, observed 57.2mm rainfall in Santa Cruz and 106mm in Colaba, at 8-30am on Saturday.
Sunday saw the rainfall decrease to half at 55.4mm in Colaba, while Santa Cruz experienced a minimal decrease with 51.9mm. These observations were recorded also at 8-30am.
"The low pressure in the Bay of Bengal has caused the increase in rainfall. Now the activity over the Bay is reducing, and so we can expect the rainfall to decrease in the next 48 hours," said VK Rajiv, scientist at the Meteorological Centre in Mumbai.
The maximum and minimum temperatures in the city can be expected to be 29 degree Celsius and 24 degree Celsius, respectively, over the next 48 hours.
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