BMC is using sub-standard material for road repairs: HC

Observing that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is conducting repair work of potholes in the city in an ad hoc manner, the Bombay high court on Friday said the civic body seems to be using sub-standard material due to which potholes keep cropping up.

A division bench of justices Shantanu Kemkar and M S Karnik was hearing a suo-moto public interest litigation on the issue of increasing number of potholes in the city, which was leading to accidents and deaths of motorists.

On the last hearing, the court had asked the civic body to ensure that all major roads and arterial roads in the city are repaired and made pothole-free before monsoon.

"From newspaper reports and the arguments put forth by the intervening applicants, it seems the BMC is conducting the repair work only as an ad hoc manner and that proper material was not being used. It seems that sub-standard material is being used because of which the potholes keep reappearing," Justice Kemkar said.

"The concerns about sub-standard material being used are reasonable as roads are in a very bad shape in several places in the city. We want the expert body of BMC, which is meeting on July 13, to look into this issue and see why the repair work on potholes do not sustain," the court said.

The bench also suggested the civic body to go for materials which sustain even if they are costly as it would be beneficiary in the long term and also keeping the larger public interest in mind.

The court directed the civic body in its July 13 meeting to also consider the technologies suggested by the Indian Road Congress and Central Road and Research Institute.

The bench also asked the civic body to carry out repair work in the night time when traffic is close to nil but said the work should be done adhering to noise pollution norms.

The court also directed the corporation to take all steps to ensure that its mobile application 'MCGM24X7' is working properly and citizens are able to lodge their complaints on the App.

The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on July 15.