debris

17th Road

Khar West

Mehboob Studio

Salman Khan

Debris fills a pothole on 17th Road in Khar West

Khar, Santacruz residents use rubble abandoned in sacks outside homes to fill potholes on key roads, want BMC to do the same.Desperate times call for desperate measures. Tired with the BMC’s alleged apathy towards potholes in Khar and Santacruz West, residents have devised a way to fix two problems in one stroke.They are using constructionapparently abandoned in sacks outside several houses — a long-pending grievance in the localities — to fill potholes. Locals said the debris is discarded from construction sites and residences post refurbishing of rooms or toilets and dumped by the roads on handcarts.Anandini Thakoor, a trustee of H-West Citizens Federation, saidin, which was dug up after a drain overflowed, has been filled with such rubble. “This is a temporary solution till the rains are over. There are so many bags of rubble dropped all along SV Road and many parts of Khar and Santacruz. Instead of the BMC filling potholes with paver blocks, this plan works for us. We hope the BMC will take up such a practice as well.”The BMC recently began filling potholes with paver blocks on the road nearas well as on BJ Road, Shirley Rajan Road, St Andrews Road, Besant Road, and Khoja Florist, near actor’s house, 10 days after trying their luck — and failing miserably at it — to fix roads with over 100 bags of cold mix asphalt.“We have been monitoring 13th, 16th and 17th roads since 2002. We are upset with the BMC for laying roads with paver blocks. There is constant digging on roads, which is causing potholes. A depression forms in the roads after every shower. Paver blocks are not a solution. They dislodge easily and do not have the strength to take on heavy traffic load,” said Nitin Gadekar, resident of 17th Road.VR Iyer, who lives near Milan Subway in Santacruz, also suggested that the BMC hitch its wagon to the residents’ debris idea. “The cold mix asphalt is laid haphazardly and wears off quickly. If the BMC lays out debris first and then runs a steamroller over it, the road will last longer,” he said.