MUMBAI: Soon, you may be able to make money from potholes. Dangling a carrot in front of Mumbaikars to get them to report lax attitude in addressing the crater problem, the BMC will award Rs 500 to citizens who report potholes. But there are riders-the

should be at least 1ft in length and 3 inches deep on roads maintained by the BMC, and the cash prize will be given only if it is not fixed within 24 hours of a complaint being filed.

The move comes a month after it launched the 'MyBMC Pothole Fixit' app wherein citizens can register pothole complaints.

At a recent meeting, the BMC administration asked all seven deputy municipal commissioners to direct their respective ward-level staff and contractors to fill all the potholes by October 31 in order to begin the 'competition' from November.

Senior officials said the new initiative was aimed at ensuring that pothole complaints were resolved on a priority. Additional civic chief in charge of roads Vijay Singhal confirmed the plans.

Claiming the BMC seemed unaware of the ground reality, activist Nikhil Desai said, "For a Mumbaikar, any uneven patch on which a two-wheeler skids is a pothole. Even if a few paver blocks are missing, it's a pothole. I will show the BMC several potholes in my area."

Every

, the civic body faces flak for the poor condition of roads. In fact, a recent vigilance inquiry report has shown that almost 96% of roads that were inspected and were within the defect liability period, are in a bad condition.