Contractors of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation may be fined, suspended

MUMBAI: For the first time, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to take coercive action against errant contractors of defect liability period (DLP) roads. After observing that potholes on DLP roads are hardly attended to by the contractors, the civic body has decided to penalize the contractors twice the regular amount and take coercive action to the extent of suspension.As per civic rules, contractors are bound to repair roads which are under DLP.
Confirming the development Civic chief Sitaram Kunte told TOI, "We are planning to take coercive action against errant DLP contractors. First, we will penalize the contractors twice the regular amount and in case they fail to act, then stringent coercive action will be taken. We have observed that DLP contractors haven't paid much heed to the complaints." TOI has, however, learnt that since the launch of the pothole tracking system, DLP contractors have started taking the pothole repair work seriously. "Previously, the contractors did not bother but after the launch of the pothole tracking system, the scene has improved," Kunte said.
Currently, the contractors are fined Rs 1,000 per pothole per day. In the case of the DLP roads, the contractors in all likelihood will be penalized twice the amount. "Even after repeated warnings to the DLP contractors the road is not repaired, we may ask other agencies to do the work," said a roads department official.
DLP roads are new roads that have to be maintained by the contractors who built them. Asphalt roads have a DLP of three years and cement-concrete roads have a DLP of five years. The BMC has 1,243 DLP roads, of which 335 are in the island city, 570 in the western suburbs and 338 in the eastern suburbs. It is mainly these stretches that come under scrutiny every monsoon. If a newly-constructed asphalt road develops potholes within three years of its construction, the contractor has to repair the potholes and pay a minimum fine, according to civic rules. A similar rule applies to DLP for cement-concrete roads.
Corporators have welcomed the move. Bandra corporator Asif Zakaria said, "It is indeed high time that punitive action is taken against errant contractors. This will certainly instil some fear among them."
The civic body is in the process of collecting over Rs 57 lakh as fine from 12 pothole repair contractors. "The calculation of the fines is in the final stage. As of date, the pothole tracking system is indicating Rs 57 lakh as the fine amount that the civic body will be collecting," said Shantanu Kulkarni, director, Probity Soft.