Will the roads in Mumbai be shut because BMC staff is busy with caste survey, HC asks BMC

The Bombay high court expressed dissatisfaction with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's failure to address a contempt plea regarding potholes and poor road conditions in the city. The BMC cited staff engagement in the Maratha reservation survey as the reason for the delay. The court granted an extension for the BMC to respond and scheduled the next hearing for February 15. The court also questioned the BMC's plan to complete the remaining road works before the upcoming monsoon season.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday expressed its dissatisfaction over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s failure to file an affidavit in response to a contempt plea about potholes and poor road conditions in the city due to the staff being engaged in the Maratha reservation survey.

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A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor was hearing a plea filed by lawyer Ruju Thakker alleging non-compliance with the 2018 order directing civic authorities to repair potholes on arterial roads in the city. Despite a month passing since the court’s directive, the authorities have yet to respond.

During the proceedings, a BMC lawyer requested additional time citing staff engagement in the election and caste surveys for Maratha reservation. She said that even some of the senior officials are engaged in door-to-door caste surveys.

Chief justice Upadhyaya questioned the excuse put forth by the civic lawyer. “So, the roads will be shut down in Mumbai? What kind of excuses are you giving,” the CJ asked. Despite scepticism, the court granted the extension and scheduled the next hearing for February 15, remarking, “What is happening.”

Thakker on Tuesday highlighted a newspaper report indicating that only 5% of the concretization works on 397 km roads in the island city have been completed. The court questioned the BMC’s plan to complete the remaining 95% before the upcoming monsoon, stating, “How are you going to complete 95 % of the remaining work by May and monsoon starts thereafter? When will you do the work then? The same story continues every year,” the bench said and directed the BMC to provide a clear status on the concretisation work.

On January 17, the BMC informed a coordinate bench led by Justice Gautam Patel about the cancellation of a fresh tender, valued at over ₹1,362.34 crore, issued on December 4 for road concretization in Mumbai.

This information emerged during the hearing of a writ petition by M/s Roadway Solutions Infra Ltd. (RSIL), whose contract for road improvement and concretization was terminated by the civic body in November. The high court had previously stayed the cancellation and later even stopped the fresh tender process issued on December 14, 2023. The court subsequently remanded the matter back to BMC for a fresh decision about the contract.