&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Wake up: Bombay High Court pulls up BMC over Mumbai’s potholed roads, open manhole risks")
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday delivered a sharp rebuke to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), questioning why Mumbai’s roads continue to remain riddled with potholes despite years of judicial intervention and repeated civic promises.
Hearing a public interest litigation on road safety during the monsoon, a division bench observed that the city’s deteriorating road conditions continue to endanger commuters and said it was time for the civic body to “wake up” after more than two decades of court monitoring.
The judges remarked that travelling across Mumbai, from Dahisar to Fort, still involves navigating “hundreds of bumps”, raising concerns over the quality of road construction in India’s financial capital. They questioned why the city has failed to build durable roads comparable to those in other global metropolitan cities.
The court also turned its focus to the recurring danger posed by open manholes during the monsoon. While the BMC informed the bench that protective safety grills have been installed beneath over 70,000 manhole covers, it admitted that more than 3,000 manholes are yet to be fitted with the protective mechanism.
Expressing concern over recent fatalities linked to open drains and uncovered manholes, the bench sought a categorical assurance from the civic body that no citizen should lose their life due to such negligence this monsoon.
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During the hearing, the court also referred to the recent incident in which a civic employee fell into a chamber during an inspection by Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde. The BMC clarified that the employee had fallen into a water pumping station and not an open manhole, adding that the incident had been widely misrepresented.
Seeking greater accountability, the High Court directed the BMC to file a detailed affidavit on the functioning of its pothole and open-manhole complaint mechanism. The civic body has also been asked to submit photographic evidence showing that complaints lodged by citizens have been resolved, along with details of FIRs registered in cases involving stolen manhole covers.
The bench also expressed displeasure over the delay in paying Rs 6 lakh compensation to the family of a doctor who died after falling into an uncovered manhole in Thane last year, directing the Thane Municipal Corporation to ensure payment before the next hearing.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on July 6, when the BMC is expected to submit its compliance report on road safety measures, monsoon preparedness and pending directions issued by the court.
