Is Mumbai once again headed for potholed, waterlogged roads and clogged drains? Looking at the way BMC has gone ahead with the monsoon preparations, the answer is probably assertive. Mumbai does not seem prepared to face the monsoon challenge. With handful of staff available due to the elections, the BMC started work much later. The usual monsoon routine like desalting the Mithi river and road construction work still lies unfinished.
Rais Shaikh, member of standing committee said, “We should have planned our course of action in December. Execution and supervision has been a problem in BMC. Fifty percent of the road construction has yet not started and the drains have not been clean. This year will be worst considering no work has been done.”
The one area which the BMC never falls short in is the money pumped in for the monsoons. An amount of Rs. 1,400 and Rs. 20 crore has been alloted for road construction and trench filling respectively. Each municipal zone will be spending a sum of Rs. 60 crore for repairing potholes. What is surprising is the fact that no money has been spent on health camps.
Despite all these concerns the Sena-BJP ruled BMC is sure that all is well. Considering the fact that little has been done by the civic body, the monsoon scene this year looks undecided. Waterlogged roads on a high tide day when there was no rain, speak volumes of the amount of work that has been done.
Despite all this Shiv Sena chief, Uddhav Thackeray said,” I am always working to ensure that the lives of Mumbaikars gets better.”
