Pothole complaint? Mayor wants you to know agency managing the road

While the BMC maintains a majority of roads in Mumbai, the state government’s public works department, MMRDA, airport authority, Bombay port trust and MSRDC maintains certain roads

You can complain about bad roads, only if you know the agency responsible for it, according to mayor Snehal Ambekar.

Courting controversy yet again, Ambekar on Tuesday said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation gets blamed for potholes, even if the road is not under its jurisdiction. “It [pothole repairs] is the citizens’ responsibility too. They should know which road belongs to which agency. Most of the complaints are registered with the BMC, when we cannot do anything about it.”

She also suggested that there should be indication on roads, so citizens know which agency to complain to. “We have asked the officials to take up the field work themselves,” she said.

While the BMC maintains a majority of roads in Mumbai, the state government’s public works department, Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority, airport authority, Bombay port trust and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation also maintains certain roads.

According to the BMC data, close to 126km in the city is maintained by other agencies. The city has about 2,000km of road stretches. In 2014, the BMC urged the state government to bring all roads under the civic body’s purview.

On Tuesday, Ambekar said that BMC was ready to take the responsibility of repairing all roads, but it will require funds from the state. On Tuesday, a delegation of BJP leaders, led by Kirit Somaiya, presented pictures of 112 potholes to the mayor. For the past two weeks, political parties have been surveying the city to find potholes.