Man drives BMC to court over potholes…Sandeep Ashar
Potholes have brought the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) into a deep mess again. The civic body has been dragged to court for its inability to keep roads free of potholes.
Bharat Mehta, a Borivli-based autorickshaw driver, has filed a complaint in the Borivli metropolitan court, accusing the BMC of causing public nuisance and danger to life and limb by not filling up potholes.
The complaint, which names the office of municipal commissioner and the local assistant commissioner as respondents, has been admitted by the court.
Mehta, who has been driving a rickshaw for 25 years, has said the roads this year are in an extremely pitiable state. “Crater-sized potholes have been created on many roads with the onset of monsoon this year. Some of the roads have got completely washed away in the rain,” he said.
In the last week of July, Mehta had served a legal notice on the respondents, asking them to patch up the bad stretches. He had also attached pictures of “worst” stretches in Borivli along with his notice. “The BMC recently claimed that there were only 299 potholes that remained to be filled up in the entire city. I invite them for a ride on the roads in Borivli in my rickshaw. Let them count the actual number of unfilled ones. In Borivli itself, their number will be above 100.”
Mehta’s advocate Kishor Joshi argued before the court that the civic body had failed in its responsibility to keep the roads motorable, despite collecting crores in rupees as wheel tax for road maintenance throughout the year. Cases of accidents on account of potholes are well documented, he said.
The court is likely to pass an order on the complaint in its next hearing on August 27. If the court rules in the favour of the complainant, summons will be issued on the respondents including the commissioner.
The charges pressed for by the complainants, if proved, involve a penalty of Rs200 and a maximum punishment of three months in jail.