Mumbai: Traffic cops deny permission to dig up 13 roads during Diwali

It is BMC vs traffic police this Diwali. While the civic body has resumed repair work in many parts of the city, the traffic police has not granted them permission for undertaking repairs of 13 roads in the island city.

These roads mostly connect important market areas, and considering the large number of people flocking there for Diwali shopping, the cops don't want these roads to be dug up. But civic officials, already under pressure for shoddy roads, want to continue roadwork even during Diwali.

Every year, the BMC undertakes road works worth hundreds of crores around monsoon. Similarly, this year too, the civic body had sought permission from the traffic police since traffic gets affected in the concerned area. The traffic police have to put up diversions and man crucial junctions where work is underway, to ensure no traffic snarls.

Work may go on for months on end and locals face a hard time maneuvering. There have been incidents where people were hurt due to dug up roads. "This year, we had asked for routine permission from the traffic police. While we got most permissions, we were denied permission for 13 roads in the island city.

We hope to get permission since there is a lot of work left," informed an official from the Roads department. Most of the roads are expected to be complete by May. Officials from Roads department are under pressure since municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta held a meeting with them on Tuesday after a site inspection.

He criticised them for delayed works and asked them to speed up. Therefore, senior civic officials have contacted the traffic police to make an exception this year. They reportedly made a personal request to the top cops to allow work before and during Diwali.

Additional Municipal Commissioner SVR Srinivas confirmed this and said, "We are coordinating with traffic police and getting a positive response. Work will continue during Diwali if permitted."