BMC to fine Mumbai road contractor Rs2 lakh a day if road is not repaired in time

The bad patch on the road had been noticed during a BMC inspection before the monsoon.

After pulling up the contractor responsible for maintaining Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road (GMLR) for shoddy work, which led to a 200-m bad patch on it, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has increased the fine levied on him to ₹2 lakh a day, if he fails to repair it in four days.

The decision came after the contractor, despite being informed two weeks ago, failed to repair the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road (GMLR). (HT File)

On Tuesday, BMC decided to impose a penalty of ₹1 lakh on BPSC Private Limited (BPSCPL), the contractor, till he repaired the road satisfactorily. The decision came after the contractor, despite being informed two weeks ago, failed to repair the road. The bad patch had been noticed during a BMC inspection before the monsoon.

BMC on Tuesday, had also decided to increase the fine to ₹2 lakh each day, if the contractor failed to repair the road by July 21. A BMC official said, “We have been instructed to wait for four days, and then double the fine on the contractor if he does not repair the road.”

However, on Thursday, BPSCPL began the repair work. The official said, “The contractor was waiting for a dry spell. When BMC inspected the road on Thursday, we noticed repair work on the bad patch was on.” Bhausaheb Sangle, owner of BPSCPL said, “About 90 to 95% of the work on the patch is done.”

Meanwhile, civic chief Ajoy Mehta inspected damaged road patches in areas such as Kurla, Chunabhatti, Chembur, Sion, Matunga, Dadar, Mumbai Central, Tardeo and Chinchpokli. Mehta said a sample of the material being used to fill potholes must be submitted for testing. “We need to ensure that the cold-mix dispatched from our plant and the material used to fill potholes are the same,” he said.

As per BMC data, around 1,433 pothole complaints have been registered so far, of which, 1,249 have been attended to.