‘Contractors responsible for roads full of potholes’

Workers repair a damaged portion of Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, in Wadala on Saturday. Pic/Ashish Raje

Senior civic officials, after repeated complaints of pothole-ridden city, finally huddled at the BMC headquarters on Monday and decided to "fix the roads on war footing",. They, however, stressed that contractors are in-charge of maintenance once they are awarded the projects to concretise the roads, sources said.

At the meeting, senior BMC officials admitted that most of the potholes are on the roads undergoing concreting work, sources said. Since last year, the BMC has given contracts to turn 662 km of asphalt roads into concrete.

Of the 2,050 km of roads across the city, 990 km stretches were concreted until last year. In 2022, the BMC awarded a work order worth Rs 2,200 crore for 265 km of roads. Another contract worth Rs 6,080 crore was awarded for additional 397 km of roads in 2023.

Currently, 60 per cent of asphalt roads in the city are under construction for the concreting work. "Once the work is awarded, it is the contractor's duty to keep the roads in good condition until the construction work starts," said an official from the BMC.

Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu also took a review of the road repair works. "Complaints of potholes are mainly related to project roads. Instruction has been issued to take strict action against the contractors who commit violations regarding the maintenance of the project roads," said a civic official.

According to sources, Velrasu asked civic officers and engineers to inspect the roads in their respective wards during daytime, and ensure the filling of potholes at night. Special teams will be formed to fix potholes on a war footing, they added.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also directed the BMC administration to take initiative to rid the city of potholes.