Click to play videoMumbai: The deadline for repairing Mumbai's potholes ended on Tuesday night but the authorities failed to get their act together despite the High Court deadline.
The hearing for the case began in the Bombay High Court on Thursday and the court gave one week’s time to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to fill up the 133 potholes that need to be repaired.
The court also put on record the August 15 BMC figure that 43,000 potholes needed to be filled up.
Now, the court has come down heavily on the authorities for this lapse and it was particularly displeased with the lack of details.
Given below are some excerpts from the courtroom proceedings.
MMRDA Chief Engineer: Almost all potholes have been filled...
Justice Lodha: What do you mean by 'almost'. Give me specifics. How many potholes have not been filled up yet?
Justice Lodha: (to all lawyers) We are talking of potholes being filled up yet there are so many holes in this affidavit.
Judge to MMRDA: Should we put it on record that there is not a single pothole on any road under his (Chief Engineer) jurisdiction? If this statement is found to be false there will be dire consequences.
The court also expressed great displeasure at the quality of road repairs and once again it was the BMC that got the maximum flak.
"The judge said that if potholes filled up previously are re-appearing then they have not been filled up in accordance with the guidelines set by the Standing Technical Advisory Committee," petitioner's wife, Dr Neelam S Rane said.
After admonishing all the concerned agencies the court relented and granted them an extension. The BMC has now been given a week's time to fill up the 133 potholes that it claims are all that remain to be repaired.
"Different agencies have been given different extensions. The MMRDA has been given two weeks while the BMC has been given one week," petitioner's lawyer, Vivek Shiralkar said.
BMC Commissioner, Johny Joseph, meanwhile, had his answer ready.
"We work under severe constraints like rains as well as 21 utilities which have dug roads so we plan to mention that on October 4. We appreciate the HC's decision and guidance," Joseph said.
(With inputs from Mosiqi Acharya, Raksha Shetty and Deborah Grey)
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