7,000 potholes to fill before rains

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC’s) pre-monsoon survey estimated that there are about 7,000 potholes on Mumbai’s roads. The BMC plans to fill them before the monsoon begins.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC’s) pre-monsoon survey estimated that there are about 7,000 potholes on Mumbai’s roads. The BMC plans to fill them before the monsoon begins.

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According to the survey, conducted by the Road Department, there are 2,195 spots where potholes are located — 459 in the island city, 382 in the eastern suburbs and 1,354 in the western suburbs.

“Each location has at least three to four potholes,” said a Road Department officials on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the media.

The BMC has budgeted Rs 40 crore for pothole repairs. “About Rs 28 crore was sanctioned for pre-monsoon repair work. More will be spent before the onset of the monsoon,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner (Roads) Aseem Gupta. The work is expected to begin in April and end by May 15.

Dahisar has the highest number of pothole locations — 344 — and Malad the second highest with 291 such spots. Bandra (W) is third, with 180 locations.

On the other hand, A Ward, from Nariman Point to Metro cinema, has only 11 pothole locations — the lowest in South Mumbai. Kurla (L Ward) has 12 such locations.

Last year, the BMC spent over Rs 56 crore to repair 14,242 pothole locations.

The city has over 1,900 km of roads, of which about 500 km are concretised. Last year, state ministers had raised the issue of bad roads in the Cabinet. City Guardian Minister Jayant Patil personally inspected the roads and directed the BMC to improve them.

Meanwhile, the BMC slapped a fine of Rs82,000 on two contractors for using poor-quality materials to fill potholes. In 2010, it fined contractors in 22 wards a total of Rs 27.92 lakh for shoddy pothole repairs.