Five days since Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) launched the pothole challenge, it’s facing severe criticism for the delay in fixing the potholes.
According to a report by The Times of India, 4 days since the challenge, 85 out of 879 complaints received on their website were not fixed within 24 hours.
As per BMC guidelines, if a pothole is not fixed within a day, the person who reported the pothole receives Rs 500, which will be paid by the civic executive engineers. This means that the engineers will have to pay a total of Rs 42,500 to the citizens.
In a bid to tackle the pothole menace in Mumbai, BMC had launched the pothole challenge on November 1. In order to bring about transparency and to hold officials accountable, BMC, in a tweet by their official Twitter handle (@mybmc) on the same day, had stated that the Rs 500 award for the challenge will be paid by the civic engineers.
This move has resulted in criticism from engineers and contractors. Calling it unfair, Sukhdev Kashid, member of the municipal engineers association told the media, “Contractors do not have the required infrastructure as well as qualified engineers to repair or even construct roads. The administration should think twice before appointing such contractors and then penalise civic officials.”
The Pothole Challenge
Called #PotholeChallenge2019, the challenge was launched by the BMC’s official Twitter handle on November 1. As per BMC’s guidelines, individuals have to register themselves on the MyBMC Pothole FixIt App, which was launched by BMC in early September.
Once registered, citizens can report the pothole on the app by posting a picture/selfie with the app. If the BMC fails to fix the pothole within 24 hours, the person who reported it first gets a reward of Rs. 500.
We accept the #PotholeChallenge2019 & we nominate YOU to help us win! Click a picture/selfie with a pothole, report on #FixItApp & we promise to fix it within 24 hrs. If not, you pocket Rs. 500! Report via https://t.co/eH6CsOifYF
Or visit: https://t.co/UQ4DbfpbHZ pic.twitter.com/lQPSkvFn6M— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) November 1, 2019
BMC has also stated in its guidelines that the pothole should be 3 or more inches deep and at least 1 foot across, on a Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai(MCGM) controlled road. A person can only report two potholes and in order to avoid a pothole from being reported repeatedly, the Fixit App will also Geotag each pothole.
The week-long challenge will end on November 7.
