Mumbai : 2,300 fixed potholes reappear

more than 2,300 potholes that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claims to have filled since June have already reappeared.

The new potholes that appear on city roads with each heavy shower are not the civic body’s only concern — more than 2,300 potholes that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) claims to have filled since June have already reappeared.

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That’s more than 1/4th of the 10,000 potholes that the civic body says it has fixed in more than a month. This once again brings to light the inefficient and shoddy work done by contractors, the brunt of which has to be faced by citizens.

“There have been times when the same pothole has reappeared four times within two weeks. Contracts are attending to potholes, but most of them are filled shoddily,” said a source connected to the civic body’s pothole tracking system.

The highest instance of this was reported from G North ward (Dharavi, Dadar and Mahim) where 69 potholes have reappeared.

This was followed by KEast ward [Andheri (East), Vile Parle, Jogeshwari and MIDC] with 68 such cases.

“The increasing potholes pose a major threat to safety on roads. The administration needs to wake up as at least two lives have already been lost in the city because of potholes,” said corporator Rais Shaikh.

Civic officials, however, jumped to the defence.

“There was a very short dry spell so contractors had to fill most potholes while it was raining. This is one of the reasons that potholes have reopened,” said SVR Srinivas, additional municipal commissioner, who took charge of the roads department recently.

The delay in pre-monsoon work, Srinivas said, was also to blame.

With around half the monsoon over, the civic body is finally trying to address the root cause of the issue.

So far, apart from suspending a contractor for 15 days after his company failed to fill potholes in the ward assigned to him, the civic administration has not yet taken stringent action against those responsible for bad roads.