Mumbai rains: Crater-sized potholes dot city roads after downpour

Potholes dot the CD Barfiwala Road in Andheri West. Pic/Satej Shinde

Curious about craters? Look no further than the road outside your homes. After only two days of continuous heavy rainfall and despite the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) hollow annual assurance, Mumbai is dotted with crater-sized potholes once again. While BMC declared 120 mm rainfall in the city in the last 24 hours, it kept mum on revealing pothole figures. Nonetheless, the common man suffered as citizens complained of traffic jams caused by the gaping dents in roads.

Potholes were reported in a spots like the Dr E Moses Road, opposite Nehru Science Centre, Saat Rasta and 90 feet Road in Dharavi. In the eastern suburbs, there are craters from Kamani to Sakinaka in Kurla West, on LBS Road near the BEST depot, Chembur Naka, the Link Road in Sion and Monorail Road at RC Marg. In the western suburbs, the roads suffering are the Linking Road and Chapel Road in Bandra, JP Road in Andheri, the service road near Milan Subway, Orlem road in Malad and Thakur Village in Kandivali East.

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Washed away
Nikhil Desai of the F-North Citizens' Federation said, "At the Sion Hospital junction, a BMC-appointed contractor had repaired the bad patch of road, but on Monday, it got washed away. Similarly, at Dadar TT junction, a patch of paver blocks came out, leading to a pothole. The road in Sion was repaired only a year ago, then how did it get washed away in a short span of time?"

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In the eastern suburbs, activist Rajkumar Sharma blames potholes on junctions for traffic jams. "In our area, traffic junctions are really very bad. There are a lot of potholes and water logging at these places, which create traffic jams since vehicles have to pass slowly. Junctions like Panjarpol and Chembur Naka are in bad shape."

He added, "BMC had promised to repair all junctions prone to traffic. But the reality on the ground is not up to the mark. There is no difference in the situation compared to last year."

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Darryl Fernandes, an activist from Kurla, pointed out bad roads in Kurla West. "The road which connects to the airport has a lot of potholes. Also, there is flooding because of them. Commuters are facing problems while going to the airport."

BMC's quick-fix
The only quick-fix solution BMC has in its hand right now is a pothole-filling material that has been imported from Austria. Speaking to mid-day, VP Chithore, chief engineer, road department said, "Road engineers have been asked to act immediately on the complaints of potholes. They do the repair works when there is a dry spell. Also, most of the roads are in warranty period so the contractors are supposed to repair them."

He added, "For the major roads, we have imported repair material from Austria, which is a quick-fix solution."