BMC to Ganesh mandals: Fill all potholes created during setting up pandals by September 23

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched yet another mobile application to address citizens’ grievances related to potholes. The ‘My BMC pothole fixit’ will allow citizens to upload pictures of a pothole, tag its location and track the complaint status.

A week after Ganeshotsav, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has served notices to Ganesh mandals in the city, asking them to fill potholes created while setting up pandals. This includes the Lalbaugcha Raja Mandal which, according to the civic body, created more than 200 potholes.

Making the announcement through Twitter on Thursday, the civic body called it a hole-some solution. (Photo by Pramod Thakur/ Hindustan Times)

The BMC has directed the respective ward offices to ensure that the mandals comply with the order by September 23. “If the mandals fail to fill the potholes or repair any damage caused to the road within the time frame, we will levy a fine of ₹2,000 for each pothole, and other damages,” said A BMC official.

Further, in case of the Lalbaughcha Raja Mandal, BMC has claimed that the mandal owes around ₹30 lakh as outstanding dues for damages and other charges from previous years. “We have had meetings with the Lalbaugcha Raja Mandal and are currently working towards settling their dues. By next week, we anticipate they will fill all the potholes,” the official said.

There are around 13,000 Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandals in the city, of which 3,000 see large footfall. More than one crore people visit the Lalbaugcha Raja Mandal each year. These mandals have to acquire permissions from BMC and the fire brigade before setting up the pandals every year.

Meanwhile, according to BMC officials, more than 1,000 potholes are created by Ganesh mandals from all 24 administrative wards each year. This year, during monsoon, the BMC got over 3,500 pothole-related complaints in the city through social media, messaging and the BMC’s mobile application.