BMC puts top staff on the job
MUMBAI: A day after a court order setting a 14-day deadline for filling up all the potholes on the city’s roads, BMC sought to fix responsibilities and stop the buck-passing between departments.
Three deputy chief engineers have now been made responsible for roads in three different zones: the island city, the Eastern and the Western suburbs.
The decision was taken at a meeting between the leaders of all political parties and senior civic official on Thursday.
In addition to these three officials who will supervise the work, one vigilance official has been put in charge of keeping tabs on the quality of work in each of the three zones.
“These officials are expected to send daily progress reports to the commissioner. We hope to speed up the work once the rains stop for a couple of days,” said Mayor Datta Dalvi.
Until last year, maintenance of roads which included spot repairs and filling up of potholes was undertaken by both the central road agency and each of the 24 ward offices, the former being responsible for major roads and the latter for minor ones.
However, this year based on the recommendation of an expert committee, it was decided that a single agency—ward offices—would be in charge of road maintenance work.
“The suggestion is a good one but this doesn’t mean that the central agencies completely wash their hands off. They need to play a supervisory role and co-ordinate between the 24 wards.
This is the reason why it was necessary to appoint a single official for each of the three zones,” said NCP leader Ravindra Pawar.
URL- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1902551.cms