Mumbai News: BMC Deploys 35 Mastic Cookers To Tackle Potholes Issue Sends Notices To 9 More Sub-Engineers For Negligence

The BMC has intensified its efforts to tackle potholes by deploying 35 mastic cookers during the dry spell. Designated engineers are working diligently to ensure that bad patches are repaired within 24 hours. Only 208 potholes remain to be addressed, claims the civic officials. Despite this progress, a show cause notice has been issued to nine additional sub-engineers for negligence, bringing the total number of such notices to 22, including those previously sent to 13 contractors.

Recent heavy rainfall has caused the number of potholes to double over the past two weeks. Civic records indicate that a total of 12,761 potholes have been identified across the city from June 1 to August 1. These potholes are being filled using mastic cookers, which are monitored through a GPS system. The BMC has increased the number of mastic cookers from 25 to 35 to improve efficiency. Each mastic cooker, with a capacity of 12 metric tons, can cover between 160 to 180 square meters of potholes.  

A senior civic official said, “Now is an ideal time to address pothole repairs, as it ensures the mastic sets properly. During weekdays, we carry out these repairs at night to avoid disrupting traffic. On weekends, with lighter traffic, we can perform the repairs during the day, ensuring efficiency and minimizing inconvenience. Sub-engineers who have failed to meet the 24-hour repair deadline are receiving show-cause notices for delays.”

The city’s road network spans 2,050 kilometers, with 1,000 kilometers concreted as of 2022. The BMC undertook the concretization of 397 kilometers of roads in phase 1, last year, of which only 30% has been completed so far. Phase 2, involving the concretization of 312 kilometers of roads, is yet to begin. For this year, the civic body has allocated Rs. 275 crore for pothole repairs.  

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