MUMBAI: This monsoon, the BMC has been regularly cracking the whip on contractors
in charge of pothole-filling work and has collected fines totalling Rs
1.22 crore so far. Contractors from the civic body’s road department,
its ward level and other related departments have been made to cough up
the fine amount since June 1.

Fines totalling Rs 89.8 lakh have
been levied on road department contractors for not attending to potholes
within 48 hours. Ward level contractors have been asked to pay Rs 27.1
lakh for shoddy work on filling up trenches as well as for potholes on
minor roads that fall under the defect-and-liability period. Fines have
also been levied on contractors from other related departments such as
bridges, storm water drains, sewage and hydraulic engineering for poor
reinstatement of roads. These departments have been made to collectively
pay a penalty of Rs 5.3 lakh.

Ward-wise, contractors from the
western suburbs have been fined Rs 65.9 lakh while those from the
eastern suburbs have been fined Rs 40.4 lakh and island city Rs 10.5
lakh.

“We are going to deduct this amount from the bills that
the contractors submit for the work done by them,” said an official from
the roads department.

Till date, 19,039 potholes have been
reported in Mumbai, of which 16,385 have been attended to. Following
heavy rains that lashed the city over the past few days, over 20% of the
potholes have reappeared.

Civic officials told TOI that the BMC
charges contractors Rs 1,000 a day per pothole as penalty after the
deadline for a particular work lapses. Contractors have been given
strict instructions to fill up potholes within 24 hours on asphalt roads
and 48 hours on paver-block ones. The penalty is calculated instantly,
thanks to the pothole-tracking system.

Citizens, though, don’t
think that merely collecting fines will promise them a smooth ride. “The
civic body gives them contracts worth crores and imposes a paltry
penalty of Rs 1,000 per day. This is not a deterrent for contractors.
The fine amount should be increased,” said Mitali Sharma, a Goregaon
resident.

With Ganapati festival only two weeks away, all the
BMC engineers have been asked to report to work on even Sundays and
inspect all major Ganapati routes. More than 1,500 new potholes have
been detected on these sensitive routes.