Potholes are here to stay as Mumbai civic body is yet to repair 1,645 roads

In addition, the civic body is yet to fix 921 roads that it was supposed to complete last year.

With just four months to go for the monsoon, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has still not issued work orders for pre-monsoon repairs of 724 roads.

There are 724 new roads that the BMC has to repair. (Kunal Patil/HT Photo)

Work order is the final stage of the tendering process before the actual spadework starts.

In addition, the BMC is yet to fix 921 roads that it was supposed to complete last year.

Mumbaiites may again face potholes as experts say that it will be an uphill task for the BMC to mend all crumbling roads in such a short span. Officials attributed the delay in repairing roads to red-tapism.

Some of these roads are N M Joshi Marg, Dalal Street and 90 Feet Road in Dharavi.

According to a civic official from the roads department, the BMC has repaired only 229 of the 1,150 roads in the spillover category.

He said, “Even though the civic standing committee has approved the contracts, we have not issued work orders. We may do so in February.”

Earlier, municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta had directed officials to start road repairs in October 2017, to prevent a spillover into the next monsoon, another official said. The BMC had floated tenders in October and was to issue work orders by November.

Of the 1,150 roads repairs of which had been pending, 769 fall in the project category — those that developed potholes during the last monsoon, and 381 are in the priority-2 category that need less attention. While 229 of these roads have been repaired, 630 roads are being mended.

Datar said, “The BMC should standardise the preparation time before work begins. There is no reason for lethargy. And it is carelessness of the civic body that is causing the delay. This directly affects the condition of roads in the monsoon.”

Some of the pending road works are being carried out at Dalal Street, Abdul Rehman Street, Mangala Road, and Hinduja College lane in south Mumbai, NM Joshi Road, 90 Feet road in Dharavi, Kirti College road in Dadar, and AK Vaidya road in Mahim.

Every monsoon, the BMC faces criticism from people for potholed roads.