Uddhav spares Shewale his pothole blemishes | Mumbai News, The Indian ExpressUddhav spares Shewale his pothole blemisheshttps://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/uddhav-spares-shewale-his-pothole-blemishes/Uddhav spares Shewale his pothole blemishesOwning up for the citys bad roads,Shiv Sena corporator Rahul Shewale decided to quit his post of chairman of all-powerful BMC standing committeeWritten by Express News Service | Mumbai | Published: July 31, 2013 2:21:55 amOwning up for the citys bad roads,Shiv Sena corporator Rahul Shewale decided to quit his post of chairman of all-powerful BMC standing committee,but his party chief Uddhav Thackeray declined to accept his resignation.As Uddhavji had to face flak for bad roads,I thought it is my moral responsibility to resign from the post, said Shewale,who has held the key post for the past three years.Just a day before,the Bombay High Court had rapped the BMC and state government for shoddy road works and questioned the process of awarding contracts.The standing committee approves each and every proposal of the civic body that costs more than Rs 10 lakh. Road contracts comprise a major chunk of BMCs capital expenditure every year. These contracts,allotted every two years,are worth more than Rs 1,000 crore.While technical and financial evaluation of all bids is carried out by the administration-level tender committee,the standing committee has a final say in awarding the contracts,said former municipal commissioner D M Sukhtankar.Although BMC had set up third party audits and strict road maintenance system,the condition of city roads has not improved. BMC had also begun fining contractors and civic officials for shoddy road construction and repair. However,according to BMCs pothole tracking website,more than 14,000 potholes have been reported since June.Following three incidents of death due to potholes,Shewale had blamed former additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta for the bad condition of roads.
