Will file FIRS if city sees 1 more pothole death, says Cong

MUMBAI: Following the death of five people owing to potholes in Kalyan, Mumbai’s Congress unit has threatened to lodge criminal complaints against politicians at the helm of affairs in case of any more pothole-related deaths in Mumbai.

Sanjay Nirupam, chief, Congress Mumbai unit, on Sunday said that his party would register first information reports (FIR), naming chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar and BMC chief Ajoy Mehta .

Nirupam alleged that the Sena-led civic body was responsible for the condition of the roads in the city as it had failed to deal with potholes.

“After the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was pulled up by the Bombay high court for its shoddy road repair work, the civic body claimed that the city only has 300 potholes.

“However, during our recent campaign of counting potholes in the city, we found there are 20,000 potholes in the city,” he added.

Nirupam added that since there is a shortage of cold mix to fill potholes, BMC is using paver blocks to fill potholes which poses a greater threat to motorists.

Congress recently launched a campaign against potholes, as part of its attack against ruling parties. The ‘aao pothole geene’ (let’s count potholes) campaign was designed to shame the state government for its failure to take action on the matter.