MM: The Politics of Potholes: August 21, 2008

In the rest of the country when they talk about the city of possibilities, they say Mumbai’s roads are paved with gold. Maharashtra Chief Minster Vilasrao Deshmukh now seems to be converting this into ‘concrete’ reality. At a co-ordination committee meeting ahead of the Ganeshotsav at Mantralaya on Wednesday, Deshmukh instructed municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak to actually start paying citizens who could spot a pothole on the city’s roads.

“The CM has instructed us to give Rs 1,000 to those who can point out potholes on the roads on the visarjan route. We want to ensure everything goes smoothly,” Phatak told this newspaper. So far a joint report submitted by MMRDA notes that there are as many as 350 bad patches yet to be cleared up. 

   Clearly, potholes, which have made life hell for Mumbai’s road commuters and led to an average half hour rise in our commuting time, have become the new totem for politicians.

   With most political parties already getting into election mode the race to be seen on the side of the influential Mumbai electorate has begun and what better way to address this bloc than potholes. Last week it was Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray whose party controls the BMC who publicly warned the municipal corporation to fill all potholes by Ganesh Chaturthi. 

   Since then as it became amply clear that the BMC would not be able to meet its deadline, the CM decided to earn some popular brownie points by announcing a cash award of Rs 1,000 for any Mumbaikar who spots a pothole and informs the BMC. So get your cameras out and rush to Mahapalika Marg. Politics or civic activism has never been more rewarding.