Mumbai: Pothole-free roads from Aug 18, thanks to Ganpati bappa

An 18-foot-tall idol of Ganesha leaves for the Malhari Ganesh Utsav Mitra Mandal in Surat from the Parel railway workshop, on August 4. Pic/Shadab Khan

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has promised that all roads, especially those used by Ganesh mandals to ferry huge idols, will be free of potholes by August 18. In a meeting held on Tuesday between members of mandals and the civic body, the issue of potholes, among others, was raised. Guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who attended the meeting, which was held at the BMC headquarters, instructed the corporation to allot free space for parking for visitors at pandals.

Members of mandals and civic officials at the meeting held at the BMC headquarters on Tuesday

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As per official figures, 13,413 potholes have been reported till now out of which only 140 are yet to be filled up by the BMC. As Ganeshotsav draws nearer, the issue of potholes and uneven patches was raised by Akhil Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mahasangh in the meeting. The BMC assured the representatives of Ganesh mandals that it would fill up all potholes within two weeks. Though the Ganesh festival will start on September 7, big mandals bring idols three weeks prior.

‘A major concern'

Suresh Sarnobat, secretary of Mahasangh, said, "Potholes are a major concern this year too. The BMC assured us that they will fill up all potholes by August 18, but why do we need to remind the BMC every year to fill the potholes before the arrival of sarvajanik idols? There should be a standard operating procedure." He added that though the BMC announced that it would give permissions to mandals for five years at one go, there are several rules and regulations, so it is a little bit complex and tricky to implement them. For example, pandals should not be on roads, their size should be unchanged and fire and traffic permissions have to be taken every year.

Free parking

Meanwhile, Lodha instructed the BMC to provide free parking spaces for visitors of sarvajanik Ganesh pandals. "The BMC will take care of potholes issues by August 18. But there is an issue of parking too. Many visitors are coming from neighbouring cities and states to visit Ganesh pandals such as those in Lalbaug, Chinchpokli and Andheri.

Visitors face issues while parking on nearby roads and their vehicles get towed by traffic police, so I instructed the BMC to free up half of the parking spaces in nearby lots for visitors." Sarnobat said, "This is a long-pending demand and despite discussing the matter in last year's meeting, the corporation didn't provide any parking near pandals. It is very necessary and we hope the civic body will come up with a solution this year."