Mumbai: MMRDA fixes potholes, citizens not impressed

Potholes filled on this portion of the New Link Road at Andheri West

The New Link Road between D N Nagar and Dahisar West that had become riddled with potholes is being levelled by the infrastructure body MMRDA. The action comes hours after a report in mid-day on Tuesday. Unimpressed, citizen groups raise questions over the quality of the repairs. In its latest report, this newspaper said that authorities had turned a blind eye to the problem despite efforts to highlight it through a front-page report two weeks ago and complaints by motorists.

But the craters continue to remain on this stretch. Pics/Anurag Ahire

"We are working towards ensuring minimum inconvenience to our people in MMR," tweeted the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). It also posted the "before" and "after" pictures of the road below the under-construction D N Nagar Metro station. But the message wasn't welcomed by citizen groups.

Dhaval Shah, chairman of Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen's Association, said, "No doubt MMRDA is repairing the potholes but they are using the cold mix and other such materials which don't last more than a couple of days and the road is back to the same horrible, unusable state. They need to use mastic asphalt and RMC type material which will last longer." While MMRDA hinted that it would be fixing the potholes on the stretches falling under its jurisdiction, mid-day spotted many potholes and uneven road surfaces in many places.

BMC starts fixing deadly stretch on Link Road

The civic body has begun repairing an unpaved patch on Link Road at Borivli after mid-day highlighted the dangers it posed to motorists. The stretch, right outside the MHB Colony police station, was dug up to fix an underground water pipeline but was never levelled after the work got over.

The dangerous stretch on Link Road being levelled on Tuesday. Pic/Nimesh Dave

mid-day saw BMC workers paving the surface on Tuesday. A civic official said, "The work started on Monday night. This is a temporary restoration. We will repair this road after the monsoon," said the official.

For now, the area has been barricaded to facilitate the repairs. "We are aware that the barricades cause a traffic bottleneck. We will remove them after the work is over," said an officer from MHB Colony police station.

The work on the underground pipeline was temporary, said a BMC official. "The pipeline work will be fully done after the monsoon. Now, we are repairing the patch using paver blocks. Once the water supply work is completely done, we will properly repair this portion of the road," said a BMC official.

"After we got complaints, the work of repairing the patch started. It will give relief to motorists," said Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ulhas Mahale.

- Sameer Surve