BMC pats its own back, tells HC it has filled 1,400 potholes in just a month

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has patted its own back, claiming to have filled over 91 per cent of potholes in the city. The civic body made these ‘tall claims’ before the Bombay High Court on Wednesday by filing a ‘compliance’ report.

A division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Riyaz Chagla was informed the BMC had received nearly 1,642 complaints pertaining to potholes since June 10, 2018.

“We have however attended total number of 1,497 complaints till July 30, 2018. As of now, only 145 such complaints are pending to be resolved. Thus, 91.17 per cent of work has been completed,” the report stated. According to the report, the civic body has received most pothole complaints from Andheri east and west, followed by Malad west, Bandra west, Kandivli and so on. The report further states the BMC has come up with WhatsApp numbers and a mobile app.

“The citizens can lodge their written complaints against potholes in the ward offices. They can also make use of the toll-free number (1800221293) or through WhatsApp. The citizens can also lodge complaints directly on the official website of BMC and can further make use of the 24x7 mobile app, recently introduced by us,” the report states.

The report also claims that all these modes (of receiving complaints) have been made ‘user-friendly.’ The bench took this report on record and posted the matter for further hearing after two weeks, directing the Maharashtra government to submit its compliance report. It may be noted the bench had disposed of a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighting the menace of potholes across Maharashtra. In its detailed judgment, the bench had specifically held it as the fundamental right of citizens to have pothole-free roads and encroachment-free footpaths. It had also placed responsibility on the authorities to ensure protection of these rights of the citizens, as guaranteed by the Constitution of India.