BMC to fill highway pits, citizens sceptical

A day after the state took the decision of handing over two express highways to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for maintenance, it received mixed reactions from citizens and the civic body.

On Monday, the state government had given the civic body the responsibility of maintaining the Western and Eastern Express Highways.

The Sena-BJP rule in the BMC welcomed the decision, stating that the quality of the road repair done by BMC is better than that done by other state government agencies. “They have handed over the maintenance of the highways to us. Now, we will fill the potholes on highways for citizens’ convenience, but will charge the Public Works Department (PWD) for it,” said Rahul Shewale, standing committee chairman of BMC.

While the BMC is confident that it will do a good job and recover costs from the PWD, citizens are sceptical about the maintenance of highways by the civic body, stating that it is unable to carry out proper work on the roads under its jurisdiction.

“The BMC has failed miserably in fulfilling its responsibility of looking after the roads under its charge,” said Shyama Kulkarni, trustee of Agni, an NGO.

“There is no point in passing the buck to the other agency. Instead, they should stick to their responsibility and fulfil it. Ultimately, it is the Mumbaikars who are suffering thanks to this game they are playing,” she added.

Anil Joseph, an activist from Bandra, said, “Handing over the roads to the BMC will not resolve the issue of potholes. The BMC needs to break the nexus between the contractors and road engineers to maintain the road well, as it has the funds as well as the ability to do so.”

Meanwhile, officials from the roads department clarified that it will take at least six months to get the charge of the highways. “After receiving an official letter from the state, the BMC and the PWD will carry out a joint inspection of both the highways. Then, the design of the roads will be procured from the PWD, along with the standards for maintaining it,” said Ravindra Ghodke, chief engineer of the roads department.