Mumbai’s monsoon bogey, potholes have started mushrooming on the roads once again, and we are only in the first flush of the rains
And, it’s time that the PWD swings into action and tackles the problem instead of making excuses. Once again, this must not be a patchwork job; the contractors must be ordered to use high quality, solid material to ensure lasting repairs. The authorities might claim that they have to wait for the rainfall to subside before they can start working on the potholes, but they cannot expect people to suffer quietly till then. They have to find a solution. If they had not messed up the job in the first place, there would be no need for mid-monsoon repairs anyway.
Then, of course, comes the all-important follow-up and promise of action against those who have bungled the initial work itself. This is a neglected aspect and, despite pressure, those responsible for low quality work have been allowed to get away with it, repeatedly.
Most importantly, we must let the rain wash away our resignation and laid-back acceptance of potholes as an unavoidable by product of the rains and adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards such sub-standard work that wastes taxpayers’ money.
