Mumbai News

No rain check in Mumbai: BMC rushes to fill 12,000 potholes since arrival of monsoon – Times of India

A pothole on Mulund station road in Mumbai, on Sunday

MUMBAI: As heavy rain in Mumbai exposed numerous potholes on city roads, the BMC, which was looking for a dry spell, has started filling these up.
Data shows that this year, the BMC has filled around 12,200 potholes making use of 1,258 metric tonnes of cold mix which is produced at the civic body’s ashpalt plant in Worli.
On Sunday, additional municipal commissioner P Velrasu, in charge of the civic roads department, took to the streets across various parts of the city, such as Andheri, Juhu, Malad, Kandivli and Borivli, along with a team of civic officers to inspect the condition of pothole filling works that was being carried out.
The BMC is trying to adopt an engineering method for fixing the potholes temporarily by using paver blocks. This is because on heavy rain days, the cold mix readied to fix potholes on Mumbai roads does not sustain. As a long-term plan, BMC chief I S Chahal had told TOI that they intend to make all roads in Mumbai concrete, given that the chances of potholes on these are considerably less.
It is learnt that Velrasu has given directions to deputy municipal commissioner Ulhas Mahale, in-charge of infrastructure, to submit engineering solutions for potholes during monsoon
A civic official said paver blocks are only a stopgap arrangement and are removed once the BMC takes up pothole filling works during dry spell. “The paver blocks are placed to give public temporary relief so that there are no untoward incidents till the pothole is filled,” said the official. Netas, however, alleged delay by authorities in addressing the pothole issue on city roads. BJP’s Swapna Mhatre, also a former corporator from Khar, said that due to multiple complaints, it takes a few days before a bad patch is addressed. “Most of the complaints we are getting from motorists are of potholes on asphalt roads only. In case of complaints about potholes on concrete roads, it’s mostly only if half the road is done and the other half is pending,” said Mhatre.
Advocate and activist Godfrey Pimenta pointed out that for two years owing to Covid-induced lockdown, there weren’t many vehicles on the roads as the number of people travelling was less. “Most offices were allowing work from home, so people never felt affected by the potholes on streets,” said Pimenta.

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Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/no-rain-check-in-mumbai-bmc-rushes-to-fill-12000-potholes-since-arrival-of-monsoon/articleshow/92942756.cms