If you are worried about travelling on the roads of Mumbai due to potholes, think again. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has claimed that there are only 414 potholes across Mumbai that require to be filled. While the country's richest civic body is quick to make the tall claim, interestingly, the municipal corporation has refused to reveal data providing the exact number of potholes on Mumbai streets.
The officials from the municipal corporation have said that out of the 2,648 pothole-related complaints received on the 'MCGM 24x7' mobile app till June 10, 2,334 have already been taken care of.
Which means that BMC has been able to fill 84 per cent of the city's potholes, taking under consideration the fact that all the city's potholes have been reported by the citizens on the MCGM 24x7 application.
However, despite repeated requests from opposition leaders and activists, the civic body has refused to respond to requests for detailed data about the exact number of potholes in Mumbai. In the meantime, a corporator hinted that the civic body must provide weekly reports before the Standing Committee, describing pothole-related accidents and data about the number of detected potholes.
If BMC's claims are to be believed, only five potholes remain in the A-ward which covers areas such as Colaba, Cuffe Parade and Fort. According to a report, the data further displays that there is only one unfilled pothole in B-ward which consists of Kalbadevi and Pydhonie as the areas under its jurisdiction.
However, as per the municipal corporation's claims, the maximum number of pothole-related complaints were received from the K-East ward. The ward covers Andheri (East), Marol, Sahar and Saki Naka among other neighbouring areas.
While BMC has claimed that it has filled 84 per cent of potholes that have been filled, a dent in the corporation's accountability towards the public for being transparent still needs to be taken care of.