Despite the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation allocating Rs925 crore on the road improvement project initiated last year, it is all set to spend Rs 56 crore for filling potholes this year, a move which has raised eyebrows among opposition leaders.
Despite the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation allocating Rs925 crore on the road improvement project initiated last year, it is all set to spend Rs 56 crore for filling potholes this year, a move which has raised eyebrows among opposition leaders.
The huge allocation of money in the ongoing road improvement project was expected to bring down the budget for filling potholes
this year, but that has not happened.
Last year, filling a single pothole had cost the BMC a whopping Rs 78,500. While the budget for filling potholes was fixed at Rs60 crore last year, the bill shot up to Rs87 crore.
This year too, the BMC is all set to spend Rs56 crore for filling potholes. Interestingly, the BMC has spent Rs 262.05 crore in the last five years on filling potholes, including this year’s allocation.
Roads under the road improvement project were taken up for construction and repairs during the last six months after the previous monsoon. The same roads are still under the defect liability period (DLP), which requires the contractor to repair any defect. However, these roads will also be treated for potholes by the BMC.
“This is nothing but corruption. The roads which are already under DLP should be excluded from the list of pothole treatment. This will save BMC’s fund. But there is no mention about any such information in the proposals for the pothole repairs,” said Dnyanraj Nikam, opposition leader in the BMC.
Nikam said that the budget for filling potholes should drop considerably as the ongoing road improvement project is covering most of the city’s roads.
Ravindra Ghodke, BMC’s chief engineer (roads), refused to comment over the allegations of corruption. “Considering the provisions made in the budgets over the past two to three years, allotment has been made for this year. It is just a budgetary provision that we have made,” he said.
Residents, too, expressed surprise over the allocation of funds. “Over 60 years after independence, we still do not know how to carry out quality works, while funds are being allotted in a haphazard manner without giving it a thought. There is no quality assured. Can the BMC tell how many contractors have been acted against?” asked Harishchandra Pandey, a Kandivli-based social activist.
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