State first says it had filled all potholes on Western Express Highway and Eastern Express Highway, then saves itself the blushes by saying new ones had cropped up since repairs
Got 'em all? According to the state government, 3,247 potholes were filled from July 17-21. File pic
The state government almost dug itself into a hole yesterday during the hearing of a suo motu public interest litigation on the state of roads in the city. State counsel Molina Thakur told the Bombay High Court that it had filled 3,247 potholes on the Western Express Highway (WEH) and the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) from July 17-21.
Also read: After making their numbers public, BMC to issue new SIM cards to engineers
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Got 'em all? According to the state government, 3,247 potholes were filled from July 17-21. File pic
When Justice Shantanu Kemkar asked amicus curiae and senior counsel Jamshed Mistry to verify this claim by surveying the roads himself, it elicited a quick rejoinder from Thakur: that 137 new potholes had cropped up since the repairs due to heavy downpours.
Justice Kemkar then directed the state government to make sure that both the WEH and the EEH are pothole-free by August 19, the next date of hearing.
Also read: Truth or Dare? Mumbai road engineer challenges BMC over potholes
New SIM cards in 2 days
Earlier, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) told the bench comprising Justice Kemkar and Justice Makrand Karnik that it will in two days provide new mobile phones and SIM cards to road engineers of the 24 wards, whose personal phone numbers it had made public to let citizens register complaints about potholes via WhatsApp.
mid-day's reports on July 23 and July 24 of road engineers being peeved at their personal numbers being made public
Its counsel, Anil Sakhare, said many engineers had been subjected to verbal abuse after their numbers were made public. The court attributed such behaviour of the public to "frustration".
mid-day had on July 23-24 highlighted how the road engineers were miffed over their personal phone numbers being made public.
After giving out the SIM cards, the BMC will publicise the new numbers.
Justice Kemkar then asked whether the road engineers would respond to complaints only during working hours. "They will carry the mobile numbers 24X7. One can complain any time and they will reply to it," Sakhare replied.
Advocate Kamal Katha, who is an intervener in the matter, pointed out to the court that people are often confused about which ward officers they have to raise complaints on potholes with.
He added that there is no mechanism to track complaints since people are not issued a complaint number. To this, Sakhare said a toll-free number already exists, along with app MCGM 24X7, and that the BMC is mulling over introducing a complaint-tracking mechanism.
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