Band, baaja & potholes: MNS sends loud message on Mumbai road woes

Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers today took to the streets beating drums to draw civic authorities' attention towards the pothole menace in the metropolis.

The "band baaja" protest, during which members of the Raj Thackeray-led party played the 'dhol-tasha' (double- headed drum), was held across the city. During the stir, the MNS workers lambasted the civic administration and ruling parties in the BMC (Shiv Sena and BJP) for their failure to keep roads intact.

The Opposition outfit said the ruling parties have jeopardised the citizens' lives by not promptly filling potholes on the roads, which have become a regular feature, especially during the monsoon.

It also accused the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) of "under-reporting" cases of potholes.

Sandeep Deshpande, MNS Group leader in the BMC, said "It is very unfortunate that the administration is under- reporting the number of potholes on the roads. Our workers fanned out in the city and clicked pictures of numerous potholes and submitted them to ward officers, who assured to fix them within 24 hours."

"If the ward officers fail to address the problem highlighted by us, we will carry out this protest on a bigger scale," he warned.

Deshpande last week threatened to "kidnap" the ward officer of G-north ward if potholes in areas under his jurisdiction were not repaired promptly.

Taking a dig at the Shiv Sena and BJP, Deshpande said, "These parties were busy with band baaja at swearing-in ceremony (of new Ministers today), while we used the same instruments to highlight the citizens' problems. We hope these parties come out of their slumber and solve this issue."