Pothole Challenge: BMC shells out ₹36K as reward to citizens

Road engineers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had to shell out ₹36,000 over a period of seven days for failing to fill potholes within 24 hours.

Road engineers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had to shell out ₹36,000 over a period of seven days for failing to fill potholes within 24 hours.

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Staring November 1, the BMC launched a seven-day campaign, ‘pothole challenge’, under which it offered ₹500 cash prize to citizens for reporting potholes. As per rules of the challenge, the citizens had to take a selfie with the pothole and report it, and they would be eligible for the cash prize in case the pothole was not fixed within 24 hours.

The BMC received a total of 1,700 complaints during the period, of which 70% were repaired. The civic body approached 147 citizens for the prize, of which 36 refused to accept it, 39 were not reachable, and 72 citizens accepted the cash prize.

Civic officials said those who have refused to accept the prize said their priority was to get the work done. A senior civic official said, “Many complainants said that they were satisfied with the work, even in cases where the potholes were repaired after the 24-hour window. Apart from this, most of them [citizens selected for the prize] are either out of town or are not available to collect the cash prize.”

The challenge had certain riders. According to the terms and conditions, the potholes had to be reported on BMC’s pothole app called ‘MyBMC Pothole Fixit’. It also mentioned that the pothole should be more than three inches deep and at least one-foot wide.

In addition, if the road falls under defect liability period (DLP), the money for the prize would be taken from the contractor concerned and not BMC officials.

During DLP, road contractors are responsible for any maintenance work.

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