04 September,2016 09:15 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav and Laxman Singh
With less than a day left for Ganeshotsav, potholes remain a major concern for devotees transporting Ganpati idols to their mandals. Situation is grim in western suburbs, where roads are yet to be repaired
A pothole-ridden road in Andher (E). Pic/Prabhanjan Dhanu
With less than 24 hours remaining for Ganeshotsav, potholes remain a major concern for devotees transporting ganpati idols to their mandals. The situation is grim in the western suburbs, where roads have not been repaired by the BMC, PWD and MMRDA. However, the situation is much better in SoBo, with fewer potholes compared to other parts of the city. One of the worst stretches is the road on Eastern Express Highway near Bimbisar Nagar in Goregaon.
Also read: Ganesh mandals want BMC to repair potholes for Bappa
PWD authorities have claimed that they would repair the road at the earliest. PWD Executive Engineer SS Deshmukh said, "Our team has already started repairing the road on WEH but the rainfall has slowed down our work. We are trying our level best to repair the road."
The situation of the internal roads in western suburbs is not much different with many potholes on the 200-metre stretch passing from SV Road in Jogeshwari to Veera Desai. The Old Nagardas road in Andheri east is also patchy at few places. With many mandals in the vicinity, filling the potholes would be a daunting task for the authorities.
According to the BMC's road department, 4,170 potholes have been reported across the city till date. While the civic body has started repairing several stretches, the intermittent rain in last two days has added more than 200 odd potholes on the city roads.
The BMC has been given deadlines by Ganesh mandals to finish the work before Ganeshotsav begins on Monday. Office bearer of Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti, Naresh Dahibavkar said, "We have requested the CM to look into matter."
Furious with authorities for not acting on time, Dahibavkar said, "If there is a traffic jam during the procession due to bad roads, don't blame the mandals. It's the government authorities who have not fixed potholes." Akhil Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mahasangh, an umbrella body of Ganesh mandals, has also expressed displeasure over bad roads. Senior officebearer of Mahasangh, Suresh Sarnobat said, "The BMC had promised us to repair the potholes before Ganeshotsav."
