Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
TMC chief suspends 4 engineers for bad roads
THANE: Four civic engineers with the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) have been held responsible for bad roads in the city and suspended by the civic commissioner, Dr. Vipin Sharma on Saturday. A task force of all the planning authorities under Thane District Collector will also be formed to resolve the issue of potholes and traffic. Sharma ruled that the four allegedly neglected the work of filing potholes and also ignored the shoddy work by the contractor.
The four engineers include Uthalsar ward executive engineer Chetan Patel, junior engineer Prakash Kadtare from Vartak Nagar ward, junior engineer Sandeep Sawant and Sandeep Gaikwad from Lokmanya Sawarkar Nagar ward.
The decision was taken following a survey of city roads by the Guardian Minister, Eknath Shinde, on Friday and Saturday. Shinde had given directives to the civic chief to take action against the concerned officials.
Shinde had claimed that the road work was substandard and that despite paying the contractors, the condition was pathetic for which the blame went to the government. “The officials who have ignored this substandard road repair works should be suspended,” he said.
A civic officer said, “As per the directives of the commissioner, we have suspended the four. We will also soon start issuing notices to the contractors who are responsible for the roads that developed craters.”
Since the start of this week, motorists had to endure a nightmarish commute due to roads across the city riddled with huge craters. On Tuesday evening, a 23-year-old Mumbra resident died after skidding on a bad stretch along Ghodbunder Road.
Shinde said, “Parking lots will be made available at the outskirts of the city to park the heavy vehicles that enter the city during the day. Also, a task force of all the planning authorities in MMR region along with the PWD and MMRDA officials will be formed under Thane Collector to work to find solutions for pothole-free roads.”
Mahesh Singh, 19, who resides in Kharkar Ali, Thane, said, “Not just the roads in the city but the highways connecting the nearby cities too are riddled with potholes. The flyovers are in pathetic condition. Such shoddy work should be avoided.”