As potholes surface on roads across Mumbai, questions are being asked why the BMC is taking about five days to take care of each such pit, that too shoddily. Citizens say this long gap in filling the potholes is leading to more craters and is increasing the backlog. Civic officials said the entire process is elaborate to ensure transparency to check malpractices.

Officials said they used to attend to potholes immediately earlier but that practice had fewer checks and balances and it was difficult to track the quality of material used. After a massive pothole scam rocked the corporation five years ago, it put in place a process to fix responsibility at every stage, including the appointment of contractors.