BMC's Pothole Challenge: Report with selfie, win Rs 500 if no action

In an attempt to make Mumbai pothole-free, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has come up with an innovative idea. Taking to its Twitter page, BMC has introduced an application called FixIt App. Touting it as #PotholeChallenge2019, the BMC has urged people to download the app and a selfie with the pothole. It went on to state that the pothole will be fixed within 24 hours. Moreover, it has promised a sum of Rs 500 if the given pothole does not get fixed with the given time. 

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What is the Pothole challenge all about?

As per the Pothole challenge by the BMC, a person is required to register on the Fixit App. BMC has specified that the pothole with which a person s the selfie should be 3 or more inches deep, at least a foot across and should be on a Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) controlled road. In case of multiple people reporting about one pothole at a given time, the award money will be given to the one who reported first, if they are unable to fix it within 24 hours. It has also set a limit of two potholes per person. The challenge has been given for a period of seven days - November 1 to November 7. Netizens had mixed response on this tech-savvy super innovative idea of BMC - while some inquired about the number of days pothole filling would last, others complained about the various apps of BMC that "don't work" and "are very poorly designed".

READ: Maharashtra: Man dies after scooter hits pothole

Pothole Menace in Mumbai

Even after continuous assurances from political leaders across the political spectrum, pothole menace has been taking lives in Mumbai. On Monday, a 42-year-old man died after he fell off his scooter when it hit a pothole and rammed into a road divider in Maharashtra's Thane district, on Monday.  Earlier this month, a 21-year-old woman doctor died after being run over by a truck when she fell off a two-wheeler as it slipped on a pothole in Bhiwandi. The Shramjeevi Sanghatana, a local outfit working for tribal welfare, expressed concern over such incidents. While its youth wing president Pramod Pawar said the pothole-ridden roads in Bhiwandi claimed several lives this year, he has blamed the contractor for shoddy repair work. Ahead of assembly election, in a campaign rally, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, also slammed the Maharashtra government claiming that as many as six lives have been lost due to accidents caused by pothole-ridden roads in Thane district. 

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