Racket behind potholes: MNS chief

As the Shiv Sena-led BMC and the MMRDA headed by the chief minister blame each other for the pothole-menace in the city, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said on Thursday that there was a ‘ huge corruption racket’ behind the problem and there is big money involved in it.

As the Shiv Sena-led BMC and the MMRDA headed by the chief minister blame each other for the pothole-menace in the city, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray said on Thursday that there was a ‘ huge corruption racket’ behind the problem and there is big money involved in it.

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The BMC has spent Rs26 crore in the past three months and has made a provision of another Rs14-crore for filling in potholes.

“Having potholes is profitable for political parties. The contractors belong to them and so the money gets circulated back into the party. They do a haphazard job of covering the potholes only to make sure there are more,” alleged Thackeray referring to the bad condition of roads in the city.

Taking potshots at the Sena, which was seen passing the buck to the MMRDA, he said, “They have Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Nashik and even Pune corporations, where the roads are so bad. There is a need for the parties leading these civic corporations to indulge in some introspection,” he said.