BMC chief wants roads pothole free by May 15

Although it may be little far fetched to say so, Mumbaikars may have pothole-free roads this monsoon. Municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar has directed all ward officers and other officers concerned to complete all digging work before May 10.

He has also announced that there will be no potholed roads after May 15.  

Despite a public holiday on Friday Kumar held a marathon meeting with all civic officials at the BMC headquarters. Reviewing the pre-monsoon work, the commissioner warned against any pothole or trench left unattended before the announced date. He also insisted that during monsoon the roads should be in good condition. 

According to the road department, there are 2,195 potholes on various locations across the city. Going through the information forwarded by the department, he asked the officials to complete the ongoing work at the earliest. The chronic spots, he said, must be attended early to make the city pothole-free. 

On the 758 roads in the city where vehicles ply everyday, the network of chronic potholes stretches extends to over 3.1 lakh sqm. The BMC has made a provision of Rs30 crore for pothole filling and resurfacing of the roads.   

The commissioner directed all additional municipal commissioners to monitor the road repairing and nullah cleaning work. He also asked them to take care to avoid any flooding during the monsoon. 

Kumar insisted that the health department must curb outbreak of any monsoon-related diseases. He directed health officials to make all the 3,399 civic buildings mosquito-free by not allowing any ground for mosquitoes to breed.