Shoddy repair of pothole-riddled roads frustrates residents of Bandra, Khar

Residents of Khar and Bandra West in Mumbai are frustrated with pothole-riddled roads. Former corporator Asif Zakaria called for the BMC to fix the roads instead of levying fines on contractors. The BMC has claimed helplessness but has now swung into action. Residents have complained of poor patchwork and lack of repairs. The BMC commissioner has promised to fix all BMC roads on a war footing. The BMC has instructed ward officers to fill potholes during the dry spell. The use of Rapid Hardening Concrete (RHC) technology to fill potholes has led to uneven roads, according to former leader of opposition Ravi Raja.

Strap: Former corporator says instead of levying fine, BMC should fix roads and charge mega contractors

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Mumbai: Khar and Bandra West residents have said they are frustrated with various problems thrown up by pothole-riddled roads in the area.

The condition of an important road near Madhu Park, for instance, which was already dotted with potholes and difficult to drive on, has only worsened after the onset of the monsoon. The condition of Pali Mala Road is no different.

On Wednesday, Asif Zakaria, former corporator from Bandra, posted on social media that a big-ticket contractor in his area is failing to maintain Pali Mala Road and the central road agency officials have claimed helplessness.

“Fining is no solution; BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) cannot fill coffers at the cost of Mumbaikars needs to get the work done.” he tweeted.

Following his tweet on the poor condition of Pali Mala Road, the BMC swung into action, but the contractors used paver blocks in some parts.

“Instead of fining the contractors, the BMC should fix the roads and charge the mega contractors,” Zakaria added.

Reshma Doshi, co-convener of Mumbai North Central District Forum (MNCDF) and a resident of the area, said travelling on Madhu Park Road is an agony-filled experience with the assurance of a back injury.

“It’s like a road doesn’t exist here. The local corporators do patch work before monsoons and take credit. But this year, even the repairs were not done. Year after year, after some outrage, there is some ‘thook patti’ (shoddy) work done. But one rain and it’s back to potholes,” said Doshi.

The road is a part of a mega tender for road concretisation and a kilometre of this patch will be concretised under the project.

Anandini Thakoor, a 93-year-old veteran activist and managing trustee of Khar Residents’ Association, said, “Twenty years ago, Madhu Park was a posh area. Today, there are potholes, garbage and what not. We are going back to the worst.”

Thakoor said the residents are asked to go from one department to the other to resolve pothole issues.

“To get one issue like potholes resolved, the BMC passes the buck from one department to another. It is disheartening to see what they have done to this suburb,” she added.

Iqbal Chahal, commissioner and administrator of BMC, said, “We are fixing all the BMC roads by this weekend, on a war footing.”

On Saturday, Chahal had said, “Metro work is being carried out on all the major roads in the Bandra, Khar, Juhu areas. The issue of potholes is being addressed by the metro contractors. The rest of the potholes are being fixed by central agencies in coordination with the ward agencies.”

Chahal said that continuous rain in the last week hampered their work of filling potholes, which the civic body is trying to attend to as per its deadline of 48 hours.

Chahal said that it has been specifically brought to his notice that potholes are emerging on project roads which are a part of the mega contract for road concretisation and these contractors have to keep the roads motorable and potholes free.

“Once these roads are concretised, there will be no potholes,” said Chahal.

On Monday, the BMC, through a press statement said that it has instructed all the ward officers to act on potholes in the area and fill them on a war footing during the dry spell.

In a meeting held by Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Mumbai’s guardian minister, along with P Velrasu, additional commissioner (Projects), the BMC said that it will speed up the pothole filling work across the city using cold mix, Mastic and Rapid Hardening Concrete (RHC) technology.

Meanwhile, Ravi Raja, former leader of opposition, has said that the RHC technology used by the BMC to fill potholes has increased the problems instead of reducing them.

Raja said that the BMC is not levelling the roads after filling potholes using RHC which has led to uneven roads. “This execution has led to a bumpy ride across the city,” he said.