Bombay HC says BMC’s responsibility to ensure motorable roads, can’t monitor every road accident due to potholes

A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor said that since it was dealing with larger issues of non-compliance of previous orders, it cannot monitor every single road accident or pothole and it was BMC’s responsibility to provide motorable roads.

The civic body also denied an allegation that only 5% of the roads in Mumbai under BMC’s area are concretised and stated that of total 2,050 kilometres of roads under it, total length of concretised roads is 1,224 km. It added that the work for 356 kilometres of roads is in progress and recently tenders were floated for concretisation of 389 km of roads.

It added concretisation work is ‘systematically in progress’ and that remaining 81 kilometres of roads which are under ‘defect liability period (DLP where contractor is responsible for damage to the roads)’ will be taken up for concretisation after the completion of said period.

The HC in January this year had sought BMC’s reply in hearing contempt petition by a lawyer Ruju Thakker alleging non-compliance of 2018 orders by the civic authorities to repair potholes along all arterial roads in the city. Thakker claimed that not a single road in the city was in motorable condition.

The affidavit filed by M M Patel, Chief Engineer (Roads & Traffic) of BMC, stated that work order for concretisation of roads in Phase 1 were issued in February, 2023 to be completed within 24 months excluding monsoon period.

“Even though the work order was issued in February 2023, these companies were new and some time required for the setup and in the monsoon of February, 2023 no work could be carried out,” he said. “The progress of work for eastern and western suburbs is within the stipulated period,” the BMC stated.

It also said that due to ‘unsatisfactory work’ by a contractor who was awarded tender for concretisation in island city, the same was terminated and fresh tenders have been called with additional roads to be concretised.

Thakker cited a news report which claimed that as per civic officials, merely 5 percent of the work of a total of 397 kilometre of cement concrete roads in the island city have been fully completed so far.

“The allegation that only 5% of the roads in Mumbai are concretised is false and even as far as phase 1 is concerned, the said allegations are not true as on date,” the BMC stated.

The HC asked the lawyers to give a roadmap for final disposal of the plea and posted it for further hearing after four weeks.