Mumbai: BMC imposes over Rs 50 lakh fine on contractors for not not repairing potholes, roads in city

Potholes on a Mumbai road. File Pic/Atul Kamble

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday said that it has imposed a fine of Rs 50.53 lakh on contractors for repairing potholes and delaying road repairs in city, an official statement from the civic body said.

The fine was imposed on the contractors for not maintaining roads properly in the ongoing monsoon season in Mumbai.

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The BMC said it has also warned the contractors of stricter action in case of any further delays.

The BMC said that the contractors were asked to engage additional manpower to repair roads on a war footing when Mumbai rains take a break.

Mumbai has been witnessing heavy rains since last week. Several roads across the city has been affected with potholes and the motorists were facing issues to ply on these roads. The potholes were also often leading to traffic snarls on major city roads.

"The contractors have been asked to fill potholes within 24 hours of receiving complaints," the BMC said in the statement.

A collective fine of around Rs 50.53 lakh has been imposed on contractors for failing to fill potholes on time, repairing roads and not maintaining the city streets during the ongoing monsoon, the statement said.

"The municipal administration has given clear instructions that the contractors should use additional manpower to fill the potholes immediately as soon as the rains stop, and they should do the work even during the night shifts," it stated.

The statement further said that then BMC has deployed 227 junior engineers to monitor road conditions and report potholes and damaged roads across the city.

It said that the BMC has also appointed 18 contractors for road and pothole repairs during the monsoon season.

Mumbai received more than its average rainfall in July and continue to witness heavy downpour.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday issued a yellow alert for Mumbai and Palghar district in Maharashtra, predicting heavy rainfall at isolated places.

According to IMD's latest Mumbai weather updates, "Heavy rainfall was very likely at isolated places."

A yellow alert was issued for July 27 and 28 for Mumbai, according to the IMD's weather bulletin.

"If more water accumulates on asphalt roads, the surface of the roads starts to erode. If they aren't repaired soon, potholes appear," the statement said while explaining the reason being city's being affected with potholes.