Mumbai: Blame contractors, not us, Engineers say after pothole rap

Potholes on DN Road, Fort. Pic/Ashish Raje

The Association of Mumbai Civic Engineers has called on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to take action against contractors rather than issuing show-cause notices to engineers. Recently, 13 road engineers received notices for delays in pothole repairs. In the meantime, 9,057 potholes have been reported in the city, with 8,791 of them repaired.

Sainath Rajadhyaksha, president of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Engineer Union, said, "The administration has issued notices to 13 engineers. However, officers need to understand the ground-level realities. "Contractors are unable to supply the necessary materials and labour to address the potholes. Repairing potholes was practically impossible last week due to continuous rainfall. Roads where infrastructure work by other authorities is ongoing are their responsibility to maintain, but the BMC is repairing potholes on these roads as well. Our engineers are working 18-hour days, including weekends," he said.

Potholes on the road outside Hallmark Business Plaza in Bandra East. Pic/Rane Ashish

"We have sent a letter to civic chief, Bhushan Gagrani, expressing our concerns about the recent actions. We have appealed to the civic chief not to demoralise engineers by issuing such notices. Additionally, we have requested a meeting with other authorities to discuss road issues," Rajadhyaksha added. "BMC officials claim they have issued notices to the engineers, asking for the reasons behind the delays. The engineers are currently submitting their replies, which will be compiled and presented to the civic chief," said an official of the roads department.

Based on the data, the Western Express Highway saw 2,479 potholes reported, all of which have been repaired. On the Eastern Express Highway, 1,810 potholes were reported, with 1,809 repaired. In the K West ward, which includes Andheri West, Versova and Jogeshwari West, 597 potholes were reported and 586 were repaired. E ward, covering Byculla and Mazagaon, had 351 potholes reported, with 311 repaired. G North Dadar-Dharavi reported 323 potholes, of which 314 were repaired. H East ward, encompassing Bandra and Santacruz East, had the lowest number of potholes at 40, with 31 repaired. Following this, T Ward in Mulund reported 47 potholes, and 42 were repaired.