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Civic panel cries hoarse about bad roads in last meet

The committee members cited civic chief Ajoy Mehta's promise to crack down on errant contractors during a standing committee meeting about a month ago.

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Committee members allege that despite tall promises, roads still remain in bad shape
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The BMC's last standing committee meeting on Tuesday, before the model code of conduct for the civic polls is announced, witnessed a majority of members raising concerns over the deplorable condition of roads.

The committee members cited civic chief Ajoy Mehta's promise to crack down on errant contractors during a standing committee meeting about a month ago.

Members alleged that even after a month since he made the promise there had not been any change in the condition of roads. During the three-hour meeting on Tuesday, over 100 proposals, amounting to Rs1,200 crore, were cleared.

"It has been more than one month since civic chief Mehta had assured the standing committee members that he would not allow contractors to hold the city at ransom over the deplorable condition of roads, and that he would take action against erring contractors. There has not been a visible change so far," said Rais Shaikh, Samajwadi Party member of the standing committee.

A majority of the committee's members sought details of road work carried out in the last one month. "The administration should provide details of road work carried out in the last one month to members," said another member.

During an earlier meeting, which was attended by Mehta, corporators alleged that blacklisted contractors implicated in the road repairs scam were turning a blind eye towards carrying out the remaining road works in the city.

"When we sought a status report on road work from contractors, they did not want to furnish information," said Rais.

Interestingly, Mehta, a press meet on the same day, said he could not take his aged parents for a walk as the footpaths were not pedestrian-friendly.

Mehta said he directed officials to treat pedestrian-friendly streets as a priority. Following his statement, Mehta had instructed deputy municipal commissioners of seven BMC zones to adopt footpaths in Mumbai to be made pedestrian-friendly and encroachment-free.

Replying to members' queries, the civic official said they have passed proposals for 1,004 roads across the city, with works for 428 roads already awarded.

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