Mumbai's roads pitted, scarred

When the monsoons arrive in Mumbai, it is also the season for potholes appearing across large sections of roads in the metropolis where helpless road users have no choice but to inculcate the values of patience and forbearance.

Whilst concretisation of all major roads have helped achieve a smoother flow of traffic, vehicles come to a stop at the crossroads where work remains unfinished.

This is especially the case at junctions on the Sion-Trombay Road in Chembur in eastern Mumbai where road construction seems to crawl at a slow pace, mainly because of the sudden spurts of heavy rains. Of the 18-km roads that were taken up for concretisation, work on 4.5-km of roads is yet to be completed.

But the curse of this city is the increasing number of potholes though civic chief K. C. Srivastava of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently told a newspaper that instructions have been given to fill all the potholes.

Whether it is Dadar or Parel on the arterial roads connecting the business districts or in the residential areas of western suburbs, it is the same scene of vehicles ploughing cautiously through muddy craters of all sizes. Sometimes, the roads are so badly damaged that even the rocks on lower layers of the foundation protrude dangerously. Pedestrians are a harassed lot as most pavements are dug up by some utility agency or the other and have to often use their umbrellas to protect themselves from being splashed by moving vehicles.

Some of the badly affected roads include Mohammed Ali Road, Ambedkar Road near the Dadar flyover, Khar station, Juhu Road, Western Express Highway near Shantaram lake at Goregaon and even some parts of Marine Drive, the pride of Mumbai. Link roads between Vikhroli and Jogeshwari and Andheri have already seen the worst of the monsoon, which has just begun.

Just as the civic body chief stated that potholes are being filled, one does see the municipality at work everywhere, studiously filling potholes. But it dosen't take long to find the potholes reappearing with a vengeance.

Waqar Ansari, a municipal councillor and a Samajwadi Party member, told Gulf News, "If potholes abound on our roads, no one is to be blamed but the BMC," she says. "Corruption is so rampant and entrenched among the civic officials that a big shake-up is needed.

Whether it is cleaning up the drains or building good roads that should last at least five to ten years, the nexus between contractors and these Indian Administrative Service officials has caused undue damage to our civic system," she says angrily.

According to her "all the corrupt deals take place at the Tender Committee. Contractors who have carried out shoddy jobs should be blacklisted. But this has never been done. Elected people like me can only scream and protest but it is the officials who make the decisions."

Badly affected roads
- Mohammed Ali Road,
- Ambedkar Road near the Dadar flyover,
- Khar station,
- Juhu Road,
- Western Express Highway near Shantaram lake at Goregaon,
- Parts of Marine Drive,
- Link roads between Vikhroli and Jogeshwari and Andheri have already seen the worst of the monsoon.