No getting away from pothole woes in Mumbai

Monsoon will be full of bumpy rides for commuters even this year. Within ten days of the onset of monsoon, the chuckholes have started making a mark on city roads. What’s worse, potholes have started appearing even on main arterial roads, including some
concretised ones.

Charged with keeping the roads pliable through the monsoon, civic officials had to stare at a crater-sized pothole just outside their office headquarters near CST on Sunday. Bad patches were also observed on other busy stretches like Nepeansea Road, LBS Marg, and Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road. Trenches were visible even on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road stretch near the Madke Buva Chowk in Parel.

In their defence, civic authorities said that the number of potholes are less than those that appeared in the previous years. “As compared to last year, and the year before, more stretches have been concretised. This will lead to reduction in the number of potholes,” said AV Ralkar, chief engineer, roads and traffic.

Ralkar informed that instructions have already been passed onto ward officials for spot repairs of potholes. The pothole repair work will be solely handled by the local ward offices this year.

However, unlike in the previous years, the civic body has been unable to appoint a central agency of contractors for pothole repair on major roads. Ralkar informed that the municipal corporation has set aside Rs40 crore for pothole repair in its budgetary exercise. The chief engineer insisted that citizens should contact ward offices on spotting potholes or bad stretches for timely intervention.

Recently developed roads that fall within the contract liability period will be taken care of by the appointed contractors, he said.