Mumbai: The BMC on Tuesday briefed the Bombay High Court over the various steps it has taken to address the pothole menace in the city.
The civic body claims that it has brought down the number of potholes in Mumbai adding that only 21,000 pothole remained in the city. BMC commissioner Sitaram Kunte, who made a presentation in court, claimed they have failed to attract larger reputed firms for road contracts due to budget issues. "We tried to get big reputed names like Gammon India and L and T but we have failed. There is possibly apprehension that our packages are low," he said. He also denied claims that the civic body was giving contract to bidder without testing quality.
"There are a number of agencies that deal with upkeep of roads ( MMDRA, PWD, Mumbai Port Trust BMC etc) . The Chief secy has set up a committe to look at better coordination ( collaboration of various agencies) - that report will be ready soon," Kunte said.
The High Court had taken suo moto cognizance of the pothole issue and sent notices to the Maharashtra government, and municipal corporation across the state. The BMC and other corporations will now have to submit their plans to tackle the problem by September 5. CNN-IBN has been running a campaign to highlight the pothole menace.
The BMC had come under heavy fire from the Bombay High Court over the pothole menace in the city. "Roads are like arteries of a city. In a city like Mumbai, where people can't afford houses in South Mumbai but travel to work here (to South Mumbai) from far off places - roads are important," the court ruled.
The BMC chief claimed that issues like digging of roads for Utilities like telephone lines, water pipes were the biggest issue in combating potholes. He claimed that over 400 to 500 kms of the city roads are dug up by utilities.
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