The Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI) and Welfare Organisation for Road Safety and Prevention of Accidents (WORSPA) had filed a joint writ petition in HC highlighting the plight of pedestrians in the city. The respondent parties in the petition were BMC and other public utility agencies like Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Bombay Suburban Electric Supply (BSES) and Bombay Electric Supply and Transport undertaking (BEST), which repeatedly dig up Mumbai's roads and do not restore them to the original condition. The petition spoke of inconvenience caused to Mumbaikars due to constant excavations of roads while laying down electric cables, telephone lines and water pipes.

The division bench of Chief Justice M B Shah and Justice Y S Jahagirdar, after setting the deadline for repair of pavements, ruled that as per provisionsof the BMC Act, the corporation is liable to maintain public streets and pavements. It is also duty-bound to clear debris accumulated during excavation, the court said, adding that wherever pavements don't exist or have been encroached upon, the corporation should do the needful restoration.

Following the court order, the petitioner organisations have appealed to the public to help them revise the list of defective pavements in Mumbai. They have set up a special grievance cell for collecting citizens' complaints. Earlier, these two groups had given a list of 140 defective pavements to BMC, asking for urgent attention. But only 30 per cent of defects were removed, the groups claim. A joint meeting of BMC and the organisation members was also held last October. But only one ward officer turned up for the interaction session. As per an earlier HC judgement, the petitioner organisations have been appointed on the apex committee of BMC which deals with grievances of pedestrians.

With a view to effectivelyreach the BMC machinery, the two organisations are now updating their list of defective pavements. Captain P C Batra of CGSI said any citizen can participate in this movement without paying entry fees. ``Unless we get suggestions from all areas, including extended suburbs like Dahisar and Mulund, the municipal administration and other utility agencies will not realise the importance of repairing footpaths and pavements. We want the fresh list to be comprehensive,'' he said. He said members of CGSI and WORSPA are available on telephone numbers (2621612 and 2844848).