Rs 26 cr spent, but potholes dot roads

It seems to be a collosal waste. In the last three months alone, the civic body has spent has spent Rs 26 crore on pre-monsoon repair work.

It seems to be a collosal waste. In the last three months alone, the civic body has spent has spent Rs 26 crore on pre-monsoon repair work.

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Despite this, the city’s roads are ridden with potholes, resulting in a bumpy ride for Mumbaiites.

Not only that, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is likely to spend even more on fixing the roads in the coming days. In this year’s budget, it has earmarked Rs 40 crore for filling potholes.

However, it is likely to exhaust this amount in the next two months. The long spell of rains has only made matters worse, and has wreaked havoc on the city’s roads.

According to additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta, the budget for pothole repair can be increased. “We have started work in few areas on a war footing as currently, there is a dry spell,” he said.

Though the BMC is claiming that about 900 pothole locations have been taken care of and only 231 are left, the city corporators are of a different view.

“The situation is worse in the western suburbs, with several roads filled with potholes and trenches,” said Sameer Desai, Congress corporator from Goregaon. Surendra Srivastava from Lok Satta movement said, “It is a waste of the taxpayers money. I would say that it is a pre-planned operation by the contractor, local politicians and civic officials to not provide good quality roads and make money.

Gerson da Cunha, a member of AGNI a non-government organisation, said, “The BMC has to show us that it is following proper procedure while filling potholes. They can spend taxpayers’ money on road repairs but that should be done in a proper way. This is dishonesty with taxpayers.”