BMC receives 343 complaints on Whatsapp

Mumbai: The civic body has received a total of 343 WhatsApp complaints from the city in the month of June itself. As of June, K (west) ward (Andheri West) alone recorded 122 complaints pertaining to potholes, followed by P/North ward (Malad) with 27 complaints.

This year, BMC had introduced the concept of ‘milling and carpeting’ wherein the whole road isn’t dug up; rather the top layers are scraped and resurfaced. However, the new technique seemed to have failed, taking into consideration the number of complaints. In a bid to tackle potholes, BMC had bought imported mix from Austria and Israel.

The imported mix costed the civic body Rs 70 lakh as two such packets costing Rs 35 lakh each were imported between June and July. This mix was circulated to all the 24 administrative wards to address pothole complaints. The BMC has trained the ward officials to use the imported mix efficiently. “We are in a process to make our own mix in our plant at Worli. The BMC team and professors from IIT are currently working for this and this mix can be used by next year,” said a senior civic official on the request of anonymity.  

Once the residents record their complaint, the ward officer would be responsible to attend the complaint by sending the team to the spot. The wards are expected to use the imported mix to fill potholes.