Bombay High Court pushes for road repairs before monsoon

The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed public authorities to jointly meet on January 5 next year and come up with possible solutions and recommendations on road repairs across the city.

A division bench headed by Justice Shantanu Kemkar said potholes, which are an annual menace during monsoon, have claimed many lives. Kemkar said a permanent solution needs to be worked out. The bench was hearing a suo motu (on its own) public interest litigation on the poor condition of roads in Mumbai and the civic body's failure to prevent and repair potholes every monsoon.

The bench asked the Mumbai civic body to coordinate with the Public Works Department, Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and Mumbai Port Trust to decide on road repairs by January 5. These agencies are responsible for maintaining city roads within their jurisdiction.

The bench also asked the MCGM to inform the court on February 17 next year about the decision they had taken on filling potholes and road repairs. In October, MCGM had assured the court that it would make all city roads pothole-free by October 31.

MCGM's lawyer Anil Sakhare had also assured the court earlier that the civic body would enlist the help of IIT-Mumbai and other experts to come up with a preventive plan by February 2017 to ensure that the city does not have to deal with water-logging and potholes during monsoon.