BMC’s road department has acted promptly to repair the potholes but has ignored STAC rules.
Even after being criticised by the chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan, over the numerous potholes, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is not taking any action to repair the roads. The civic body is still following the conventional procedure to fill potholes on the roads, as a result of which the roads are in no better condition even after the potholes are filled.
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had asked all the concerned agencies to fill up the potholes in 48 hours. He also asked for action to be taken against the contractors who were responsible for the shoddy work. But even after the CM’s warning, the civic body and the contractors are not following the proper norms set by the statutory advisory committee (STAC) for filling the roads.
The BMC took care of maximum number of potholes on Sunday, but they did not use a road roller to level the filled potholes with the surface of the road. Many cases were noted in south Mumbai, where the hot tar mix was just dumped in the pothole by the workers.
Two years ago, the BMC had issued a circular to the contractors to use a road roller after filling the pothole. It was also mentioned that every contractor has to show proof that he is using a road roller to level the road after filling the potholes. But they are not adhering to the rules.
The municipal corporation had made it clear that if the roller is not used then the contractor’s bill will not be passed.
“We also inspected the road rollers owned by the contractors before awarding the contract,” said an officer from BMC’s road department. “Now it is observed that many of the contractors are not observing the norm. We will also initiate action against them,” he added.
According to sources in the administration, more often than not the contractors do not roll over the hot-mix while repairing the potholes.
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