Indian Express 11.08.2010
Minister takes BMC officials on bumpy ride, again
Express News Service Tags : pothole on roads, mumbai Posted: Wed Aug 11 2010, 00:05 hrs
Mumbai: A fortnight after he took senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials on a bumpy ride over pothole-ridden roads, Mumbai guardian minister Jayant Patil on Tuesday did a repeat to review the condition of the roads and gave his verdict, with displeasure, that there had been no marked improvement.On July 29, with Patil at the wheel of his Honda City, Additional Municipal Commissioners Ashish Singh, Aseem Gupta and Manisha Mhaiskar were taken on a drive on a stretch of the Marine Drive and back.
The NCP MLA from Islampur had driven on the bad patches so that the officials got a first-hand experience of what he was trying to explain.
Following the ride, BMC had reported that there were 299 potholes in the city and most of them had been closed.
On Tuesday, Patil again drove from Sion to Worli, this time with Aseem Gupta and Deputy Municipal Commissioner Sudhir Naik through some of the major junctions and roads along the route of the Ganesh idol immersion procession. Ganesh festival, which is celebrated with much fanfare in Mumbai, is scheduled in September.
When Patil was asked about the BMC claim that there were 299 potholes in the city, he said there were many more. Patil said the the civic body should undertake work on roads to ensure they are of better quality and new potholes do not appear after old ones are filled.
Patil said though some potholes had indeed been covered, there were several remaining to be filled. He added that the BMC should fill the potholes at the earliest and take steps if necessary to “blacklist” erring contractors.
With no rain seen in Mumbai for the last couple of days, Patil has urged BMC officials to undertake the pothole-filling work urgently before the showers resume. Patil also said the BMC should increase funds allocated for tackling potholed roads from Rs 40 crore to Rs 60 crore.
