Mumbai: Only BMC can’t see these potholes

Potholes at Kamathipura junction near Nagpada. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The record rain in the past few days has made road commuting excruciatingly difficult across the city, with most thoroughfares developing potholes of all sizes. As if to rub it in, the BMC's pothole tracking system says Mumbai roads have a little over 500 craters, a claim trashed by the citizens. They have also accused MMRDA of ignoring the nearly impassable stretch of the Western Express Highway below the Metro 7 line between Dahisar and Andheri.

Potholes at Nehru Nagar, Kurla East, on Wednesday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The city may have received record rain in the past few days and witnessed road stretches getting washed away, but the BMC's pothole tracking system paints a different picture. The platform shows only 520 potholes in Mumbai of which just 100 potholes were reported in the past week.

Citizens said the scene was different a year ago as not too many people were out on roads due to strict curbs. But this time despite drawing a lot of flak over potholes from people and politicians, the BMC is yet to move swiftly to fix the roads.

Also read: Get rid of these craters, motorists beg authorities

The fewer number of potholes is mainly due to underreporting, said sources. The pothole system says 307 of the 520 craters have already been repaired. Citizens said there are a large number of potholes in Bandra, Andheri SV Road and Link Road, Santacruz, Kurla, Ghatkopar and Chembur that are yet to be attended.

Sources said citizens often take to social media to raise complaints of bad roads, but they do not get updated in the pothole tracking system even though officials take action.

Potholes at Aarey Milk Colony. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Andheri resident Shailesh Wagh said he faced much inconvenience when he recently travelled to Mumbai Central. "There is too much chaos on the roads of the city, especially the internal ones and it is taking such long hours to even reach shorter distances. Despite the city yet to open up there is so much traffic on the roads and the potholes are adding to the misery of those who have to travel for work without having the option of local trains available to them," he said.

Dhaval Shah, a member of the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association, said, "The incessant rain is exposing the quality of work done by the BMC so far. Two days back the entire road surface of a connecting bridge between SV Road and Mrinaltai Gore flyover near Ram Mandir was washed out and now the authorities have opened it for traffic after making it more like a kuccha road."

An official from BMC's road department who did not wish to be identified said, "We are repairing the potholes whenever we are complained about and also doing it by taking rounds. Once we get a dry spell, we will be able to repair the majority of them."

A road near Mulund toll naka. Pic/Sameer Markande

Hellish ride on road below upcoming Metro corridor

Citizens commuters along the upcoming Metro corridor between Dahisar and Andheri on the Western Express Highway have accused the MMRDA of not maintaining the road that is full of potholes. The commuters said they have to face massive traffic jams during peak hours. With fuel prices rising, the potholes also cost them a fortune, they said. An average 50,000 vehicles use the arterial WEH daily. The experience is similar for those who enter the city after crossing the Dahisar toll plaza.

Potholes below the Metro 7 line, on Western Express Highway in Dahisar on Wednesday. Pic/Satej Shinde

Lawyer Vedika Chaubey who travels between Malad and Borivali every day said, "There is no doubt once the Dahisar-Andheri East Metro corridor becomes operational, our journey is going to be hassle-free but right now we are facing a lot of inconvenience while travelling between Malad and Borivli. We get stuck in traffic jams at many places during peak hours." Another commuter, Omkar Patil, said, "Between JVLR flyover junction and Hub Mall, there are two metro stations and there are uneven road patches that lead to traffic jams."

Metropolitan Commissioner S V R Srinivas said, "We have a proper machinery in place and our team repairs the potholes as and when required. If at all there are any potholes or uneven road surfaces they will be repaired when we get dry spells."

100
No. of potholes reported on BMC's tracking system in past week