Rs 26 crore down the drain in Mumbai

The potholes have returned with the rains. While the BMC claims that only 231 of the city's 2,436 pothole patches remain untended, the Ganesh mandals in the city beg to differ, claiming that the city roads are riddled with 1,170 potholes. This means that the BMC's expenditure of a whopping Rs 26 crore for pre-monsoon pothole repair, have all but gone down the drain.

The BMC's budgetary allocation for pothole -elated road repair for this financial year was Rs 40 crore, of which a sizeable chunk of Rs 26 crore has already been spent.

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Speaking to MiD DAY, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Roads) Aseem Gupta said, "The overall budget may escalate if it continues to rain till October.

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The pothole situation has deteriorated owing to continuous rains. We can only work when it does not pour. If the mixture used to fill the potholes does not get eight hours to settle, it will not stay."

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Naresh Dahibavkar, president of the Ganeshotsav Samanvaya Samiti said, "We are keeping tabs on BMC's work. The potholes that they repaired recently at Worli have all reappeared after the rains. We have been sending reminders to the authorities."

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The BMC recently released figures claiming that the pothole situation has been managed best in the eastern suburbs.

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Nikita, a resident of Chembur said, "There are so many potholes in our locality. Is the BMC blind?" N V Merani, chairman of the Standing Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), said, "The BMC never follows the recommendations of the STAC."

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Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Nandkumar Chougle said, "Potholed roads are a major concern for us. In a damaged stretch, vehicles cannot move beyond a speed of 10-20 kmph, instead of the usual 30-40 kmph. We have deployed 1,200 policemen only to maintain traffic at the bad roads."

"The situation in places like Chembur, Sion, Bandra, Ghatkopar, where the roads are made of paver blocks, is the worst, as the blocks get dislodged, creating craters. We are in dialogue with the BMC road officials, but the situation is becoming unmanageable. Even flyovers have craters."

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