Shame on you, says Bombay HC to BMC on pothole issue

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday lambasted the BMC for the recurrent pothole issue as well as its inability to run the civic corporation efficiently. Pointing to the instances of people dying due to potholes, the court said it was a shame that it had to constitute a nodal agency to oversee the working of the civic body.

The court further said that the nodal agency would also oversee the work of other civic corporations in the state as well and the secretary of the Maharashtra State Legal Services Authority (MALSA) would be the nodal officer. A member of the district MALSA committee would be responsible for receiving complaints, which would be forwarded to the nodal officer who would then ensure the concerned civic corporation addresses the complaint.

A division bench comprising of Chief Justice Dr Manjula Chellur and Justice N. M. Jamdar was hearing a suo moto public interest litigation wherein the court, in every hearing since 2013, when the petition was filed, had been giving specific directions to the BMC to take adequate measures before, during, and after the monsoons to repair potholes. However, in light of complaints and deaths due to potholes recurring even this year, the court came down heavily on the civic corporation.

The BMC counsel Anil Sakhare informed the court that a committee had been formed to look into the pothole complaints and a helpline number had been started on which Mumbaikars could call and inform the BMC about potholes. The BMC also placed a status report on the work of road repairs undertaken by it.

However, the chief justice was unsatisfied with the submissions and wondered how many more people would be eliminated before the next monsoon. She also rubbished the BMC’s initiatives of setting up a committee and helpline number saying, they doubted whether the numbers would be answered.

Referring to the numerous cases wherein people lost their lives due to bad roads, the chief justice said that the problem was not limited to Mumbai but people across the state faced similar problems. “It is a shame. We have to set up an agency to supervise you so that you work efficiently,” said the CJ.

She directed the state to popularise the nodal agency and the contact persons from MALSA to be contacted in case of pothole complaints. 

Measures initiated

Following instances of the repairs on potholes getting undone within days of being filled, the BMC decided to use imported material to fill up the potholes this year. The material is said to set faster and remain intact. The BMC also started ward wise helpline numbers belonging to officers to whom photos of potholes could be sent for immediate repairs.

However, Mumbaikars say that neither has the BMC started using the imported material nor have they seen action on the images they sent through Whatsapp.  

Previous court orders

A previous bench of Justices V.M. Kanade and P. Bora, after hearing the PIL on Mar 11, 2017 had directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to take up repairs of entire stretches of roads rather than doing patchwork.

However, the BMC had informed the court that the Mumbai traffic division did not permit it and hence it was not possible for them to do as directed.

The court had then directed all government departments to work in coordination with the BMC to address the problem.

The court also suggested adopting the system of mega block that was followed by the railways, wherein it pre-announced a day and time when services on certain lines would be unavailable.

The court had said this would avert traffic crisis that the traffic department had said it could occur.

Public efforts

Harried by the pothole issue, Mumbaikars have resorted to novel ways to get the problem addressed or have started filling up the potholes themselves. Radio jockey Malishka made a video questioning the BMC on its inability to fix potholes became viral and caught the fancy of the young and old alike.

Dadarao Bilhore, a vegetable vendor and resident of Marol on the other hand, after losing his son in an accident due to potholes, made fixing potholes a daily chore and filled hundreds of potholes in Andheri and the surrounding suburbs.