It has taken just one heavy and a few intermittent showers to render long stretches of arterial and inner roads un-pliable, but the civic body has not been able to see them thus far as it claims that there are only 24 pockmarked patches in the city, of which four have been attended to.
It has taken just one heavy and a few intermittent showers to render long stretches of arterial and inner roads un-pliable, but the civic body has not been able to see them thus far as it claims that there are only 24 pockmarked patches in the city, of which four have been attended to.
The commuters, however, have been manoeuvering through thousands of bad patches, which are leading to physical harm. Of the 1,940-km road network in the city, about 250 km is badly affected by rain over the last six days.
But civic officials claim that these roads are under a Defect Liability Period (DLF), wherein the private contractor who takes up road improvement remains responsible for its upkeep for five years. According to contractors, they need at least a 48-hour dry spell to ensure that repairs are effective.
According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) records, areas like Dongri, Byculla, Girgaon, Dadar (West) and Matunga (West) do not have a single pothole. Similarly, in the suburbs, Bandra (East) Goregaon (West), Kandivli (West) and Dahisar (West), as well as Bhandup and Mulund also pothole-free, the BMC report says.
But reality begs to differ: Inner roads and flyovers are the most affected during this monsoon, including the recently opened Lalbaug flyover, which prompted chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to take cognisance.
Every year, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) promises pothole-free roads, but fails to deliver. Peak-hour traffic has become a nightmare, as cars are forced to a crawl because of bad roads.
“We have ordered each ward to attend to the potholes immediately. As of now, 85% of the potholes have been filled up,” said Pravin Badve, chief engineer (roads) of the BMC. “All the bridges which come under BMC’s jurisdiction have been already cleared of trenches,” he added.
“A contractor for each of the 24 wards has been appointed for filling potholes and Rs40 crore has been earmarked for pothole-filling,” he informed.
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