Satam says since the proposal is worth Rs 12 crore it should be brought in before the mayor-in-council for sanction. Parab doesn't agree. After some rather complicated calculations she has arrived at the conclusion that since the repairs would entail involvement of 15 contractors, each work would work out to less than Rs 2 crore. And since the committee has the power to sanction proposals up to Rs 2 crore, she feels there is no need to involve the mayor.

This tug-of-war has left the bureaucrats confused. Not having been able to decide who's right, Satam or Parab, they have taken the easy way out and have been sitting on the proposal for over four monthsnow. A senior Road Department officer said every year an identical proposal was passed in May. He added that the Rs 12-crore budget provision was made in March itself and the proposal has been ready ever since awaiting sanction.

Before MIC system was introduced, the proposal marked `urgent matter' was brought before the standing committee of the corporation every year and was passed without any opposition.

Some of the roads which are in a bad shape are L B S Marg, Ambedkar Road, Shankar Seth Road, Maharshi Road, Kalbadevi Road, Maulana Shaukat Ali Road, Goregaon-Mulund Link Road, Vikhroli-Jogeshwari Link Road, Film City Road and stretches of S V Road.