BMC will rely on YOU to fine errant road contractors
As ward officers have failed to report on shoddy road work, civic body has decided to act on citizens’ complaints if potholes are not filled in 24 hours ………SUDHIR SURYAWANSHI
The city has developed more than 4,932 potholes this season. But despite orders that ward officers should report road contractors for not filling up potholes in the specified time, not a single civic ward officer has complained about guilty contractors.
As a result, the civic body has now decided that contractors will be fined even on complaints made by citizens.
The BMC issued a circular on Tuesday stating that the numbers of potholes are on the rise because contractors are not filling up potholes as per the given terms and conditions.
The civic body had asked contractors to use the new Carboncor technology to fill potholes. But contractors say the new technology is useless and not workable on city roads.
Moreover, the BMC had clearly instructed ward officers that if contractors failed to attend to potholes within 24 hours, then the civic body could blacklist the contractors. But not a single ward officer has complained. However, Mumbai Mirror still came across potholes at Borivli, Bandra and Santacruz among other places.
However, A L Waghralkar, ward officer of R/central (Borivali), said that the contractors from his ward are filling up potholes sincerely. “We are happy with the new carbon core technology and are filling up bad patches without any delay. If there are still potholes, they will be attended to soon. Filling potholes is continuous process,” he said.
G P Rathod, officer of H/West ward said that whatever work had been assigned to contractors was being completed in the given of period. “Sometimes, potholes remain for over 24 hours because of continuous rainfall and technical problems. During such situations, we need to understand the problems of contractors. We cannot always keep on complaining about the contractors,” he said.
Meanwhile, a contractor on condition of anonymity said that the carbon core technology is not working on Mumbai city roads. “We fill up potholes with this technology, but the fillings give away soon. This technology has totally failed. As a result, the onus is on us even though we are not responsible.
“The BMC is forcing us to use this technology for their own vested interest. We have become a scapegoat of the civic authority. The conventional technology of filling potholes was better and cheap,” he added.
Pothole near Bombay High Court (above) and another one near CST (right)