6,000 potholes on Mumbai roads at 1,100 locations….Zeeshan Shaikh
Here’s why you have been getting stuck in traffic jams since the past few days. There are more than 6,000 potholes across 1,100 locations in the city. What’s worse is that you will continue to suffer until the city has a dry spell, as only then can the civic body fill these potholes.
The figures are part of an internal report prepared recently by the civic roads department.
These potholes formed within a month of the monsoon; there are two more months left of the season.
“There are about 1,100 locations and each location has a minimum of seven to eight potholes. The issue will be discussed on Wednesday in the standing committee meeting,” said Rahul Shewale, chairman, civic standing committee.
Civic officials acknowledged the problem. “The number of potholes has increased in the past few days because of continuous rain. We have not been able to fill the potholes since eight to 10 days as it has been raining incessantly,” said Aseem Gupta, additional municipal commissioner (roads and bridges). The civic roads department is ready with the repair material, but it cannot do the work as rainwater will carry away the material, he added.
However, in its report, the civic roads department claims it has been filling the potholes. The report states that 889 bad locations were found and close to 6,000 potholes have been filled.
“The report is only on paper and no actual work has been done in the past 10 days,” an official said, on condition of anonymity.