Potholes, bad roads, AQI govern citizens’ charters

From pothole management, road quality, solid waste management, transparency and grievance redressal, residents say the long-delayed civic polls have sharpened public scrutiny, with voters signalling that future corporators will be held accountable

MUMBAI: With elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) less than two weeks away, citizen forums, civil society groups and resident associations across Mumbai released charters this week, clearly defining their expectations of aspirational corporators in their respective wards.

Brihanmumbai Municipal corporation headquarters (Hindustan Times)

From pothole management, road quality, solid waste management, transparency and grievance redressal, residents say the long-delayed civic polls have sharpened public scrutiny, with voters signalling that future corporators will be held accountable. The charters reflect a citywide impatience with civic failures that directly affect quality of life.

One such manifesto to be released by Praja Foundation, a non-profit working to enable accountable urban governance, and other civil society organisations, flagged a steady erosion of ward-level financial autonomy, noting that ward budget’s share of the overall BMC budget dropped from 18% in 2021–22 to 11% in 2025–26. Praja’s report criticised the civic body’s fiscal priorities, alleging that decades of taxpayer savings have been funnelled into large infrastructure projects benefiting a limited section of society.

These concerns have found place in ward-level charters; one citizen group, the Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA), has demanded that corporators formally pledge not to misuse BMC funds and ensure spending is directed towards genuine local needs.

Calling their manifesto a call to action, Praja urged residents to seek written commitments from candidates and move from passive voting to active civic participation, warning that Mumbai “cannot afford another five years of elite mobility at the cost of mass liveability”.

Potholes and road infra

Citizens across Mumbai have consistently brought the civic body’s attention to the poor quality of roads, which worsen during the monsoons every year and have led to several accidents over the years. With roads being constructed and reworked repeatedly, citizens have flagged the civic body’s apathy towards ensuring pothole-free, motorable streets.

Resident forums have highlighted the need for effective pothole management instead of temporary patchwork repairs, and have called for an analysis of shoddy roadwork, penal action against those responsible and permanent rectification.

They have also pointed to newly built roads being dug up again for multiple utilities. The groups have now demanded that corporators actively push for durable, well-planned road infrastructure.

Reflecting this, the Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association’s (CCWA) manifesto states: “Ensure pothole-free, motorable roads; provide utility ducts on roadsides to avoid frequent and repetitive digging; take effective steps to ensure that waterlogging does not occur.”

Dhaval Shah, founder of Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens’ Association:

Potholes are a persistent problem on all roads. Enormous amounts of taxpayers’ money are spent every few weeks on temporary repairs that fail at the first sign of rain. Our corporator must intervene to ensure that roads are built to last at least one monsoon season. This issue must be taken up on top priority.

Rapid spread of illegal hawkers

The lack of pedestrian infrastructure in the city can be gauged by the missing footpaths – they are occupied by flower sellers, owners of makeshift food stalls and vegetable vendors, denying commuters the opportunity to walk safely. While the recent bus accident in Bhandup called attention to the dangers of illegal hawkers occupying the pedestrian space, the issue has remained a long-standing sore spot for Mumbaikars.

We all Connect, a residents’ association at Lokhandwala and Kandivali, in its charter called attention to this malaise. “Before one votes, think about the pending issues of Lokhandwala and make a choice. The ever increasing hawkers in the township -- especially near Lokhandwala circle,” the forum’s manifesto states.

Similarly, the Lokhandwala Oshiwara citizen’s association called for “a massive crackdown on hawkers occupying footpaths and roads, making pedestrian walkways free”.

Santy Shetty, Founder, We All Connect (WAC): We are not against hawkers; we are against illegal hawking. Legitimate hawkers deserve properly designated zones. In the absence of a regulation, hawkers are seen everywhere, creating serious impediments for pedestrians and residents, including those trying to park their vehicles. Traffic congestion and illegal hawking are intertwined. We expect our elected representatives to get rid of this menace.

Complaint redressal and citizen forum convening

There is a lack of an effective grievance redressal mechanism, and options of regular meetings of citizen’s forums with corporators and officers in respective areas. This is currently being operated through social media, with ineffective resolutions.

Detailing this, the Mumbai North Central District Forum (MNCDF), in its manifesto said, “BMC must rework the social media grievance redressal mechanism for timely and accountable resolutions. Elected municipal councillors must push for a secure multilingual portal for lodging anonymous complaints.”

Additionally, the CCWA has demanded quarterly meetings with citizen forums.

MNCDF in its manifesto added: “Elected municipal councillors must hold monthly citizen forum meetings with mandatory attendance of ward officers. Unresolved complaints must be escalated to BMC’s commissioner’s monthly sabhas at the civic headquarters with citizens.”

Advocate Trivankumar Karnani, founder, MNCDF: As advocates of transparency and people-centric administration, we call upon every candidate in the upcoming BMC elections to endorse these commitments and prove that public service is about responsibility, not rhetoric.

Managing traffic

Traffic congestion across Mumbai is a crucial civic failure, say citizen groups. Residents put it down to unplanned road works, repeated digging and lack of coordination between various civic departments, which have turned neighbourhoods into stretches of bottlenecks, affecting emergency movement and routine commutes alike.

Multiple citizen charters have stressed that traffic problems cannot be addressed through ad hoc measures. The CCWA has demanded that corporators “resolve traffic congestion by addressing the failure to implement DP roads in accordance with the Development Plan (DP) and ensure the widening of existing roads”. They have highlighted the need to complete the 90-foot road linking Andheri–Chandivali to the JVLR for east–west movement.

Similarly, the Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens’ Association (LOCA) has linked traffic chaos to redevelopment and enforcement lapses, while WAC’s manifesto states: “There have been daily traffic issues due to the lack of the DP road.”

Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder, CCWA: There is a growing sense of hopelessness with our corporators. Critical traffic-related infrastructure is either grossly inadequate or entirely absent, and long-standing issues remain unresolved. We need our corporators to do their duty in ensuring that the issue is resolved.

Pedestrian safety and footpaths

Footpaths across Mumbai have increasingly become hostile spaces for pedestrians – broken pavements, encroachments and poor design have forced residents to walk on roads negotiating fast-moving traffic. Citizen groups say the failure to protect pedestrian space has made every day walking unsafe, particularly for senior citizens, children and persons with disabilities.

Several citizen charters released ahead of the BMC elections have demanded a clear shift in how the city plans and enforces pedestrian infrastructure.

The MNDCF, for instance, has stated that the civic body must “prioritise pedestrian safety and accessibility (not just on paper) in all kinds of urban planning by implementing the pedestrian-first policy in letter and spirit,” and push for the creation of “dedicated pedestrian zones, safe crossings and universal accessibility standards.”

Citizen forums have also highlighted the absence of visible pedestrian markings, poorly designed speed breakers and rapid wear-and-tear of footpath materials.

Reshma Doshi, co-convener, MNCDF: The city’s roads are nowhere close to use for walking. Getting to a local kirana, walking towards the Uber and crossing the road is a big challenge. The reasons are many. My vote is for the candidate who speaks on this and makes H-West ward (Bandra-West, Khar) habitable.

Solid waste management and hygiene

Overflowing garbage bins, unsegregated waste and foul-smelling dumping spots continue to define several neighbourhoods of the city, leading to citizen groups flagging solid waste management and hygiene as a critical civic failure which needs to be addressed as it impacts health.

Residents point to irregular garbage collection, lack of accountability and poor enforcement of rules that have led to dumping becoming an accepted occurrence across wards. Citizen charters have called for systemic fixes rather than cosmetic clean-up drives. In its charter, the CCWA has demanded that the civic body “ensure 100% segregation of wet and dry waste at source and hold both residents and contractors accountable for non-compliance,” while also insisting on regular door-to-door collection without overflow or spillage.

Residents have also highlighted poor maintenance of public toilets, irregular cleaning of drains and garbage accumulation near water bodies.

Hemal Mehta, chairperson, Santacruz East Residents Association: The BMC is urging citizens to segregate wet, dry and e-waste, and residents are making sincere efforts to comply. However, when all categories of waste are ultimately collected in a single vehicle, the purpose of segregation is defeated. We will cast our votes to a candidate who promises solutions. He or she should mediate between us and the BMC, but sadly the local representatives were absent for a large chunk of time.

Tackling air pollution

Citizen groups have pointed to unchecked construction activity and weak enforcement of laws leading to Mumbai’s worsening air quality index (AQI). They said that despite repeated complaints, dust from construction sites, illegal units and traffic emissions remain largely unregulated at the ward level.

In its citizen manifesto, LOCA has called for stringent action, stating, “AQI issues should be dealt with an iron fist, construction of buildings and roads should be allowed only with strict regulation and enforcement of fines based on the area under construction. Fines should be in lakhs, as the present fine of ₹10,000, isn’t a deterrent for developers.”

The group has linked deteriorating air quality to lax law enforcement against large redevelopment projects.

Similarly, the CCWA has demanded stronger action against pollution sources, calling on the BMC to “enforce stringent laws to stop air pollution from illegal bhattis and Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) plants,” which residents say operate with impunity.

Pervin Sanghvi, founder of Friends of Malabar Hill: The BMC’s guidelines for developers of building projects regarding AQI remain only on paper. There has been a significant gap in addressing this issue over the last three years. We need candidates, who will be corporators soon, who will act as vigilant watchdogs, ensuring that the BMC is held accountable and that the concerns of the people are taken seriously.

Political response

Amin Patel, MLA, Congress: We will definitely include all these issues in our manifesto as well. We are considering the welfare of the citizens and their demands to curb air pollution, ease traffic congestion, 24/7 water supply and many other issues in our manifesto.

Rahul Shewale, former MP and general secretary of Shiv Sena: We have formed a committee, which has been working with citizens to understand these issues. The committee has read citizens’ manifesto to be able to draft our own accurately. We will scrutinise this and ensure we cater to citizens’ demands.

Keshav Upadhyaye, spokesperson for the BJP: We have been communicating with residents, professionals and NGOs, for the last three months, to understand their expectations and what Mumbai needs. Once we have a clear picture of what must be the highest importance, we will frame our manifesto accordingly.