Mumbai: Two weeks before monsoon deadline, BMC digs up key road in Sion

One of the patches where work is going on. The two patches are just a few feet apart

Just 16 days ahead of its self-imposed May 31 deadline and 10 days before the fresh May 25 deadline set by the municipal commissioner to complete all the pre-monsoon road and trenching work, the BMC dug up two fresh patches of the important Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road in Sion on Friday.

One of the patches where work is going on. The two patches are just a few feet apart

While the BMC claims it will finish the work on the patches by May 31, residents say they are certain that it will remain incomplete and motorists will have to face trouble during the monsoon season. An activist claimed that ‘curing', which is part of the concretisation process, alone will take about 15 days.

Local resident Shaishav Zaveri noticed the patches, totalling about 300 feet in length, on the south-bound (towards CST) side of the road, very close to where the Sion flyover ends, on Friday. "No part of the road had been dug up here on Thursday night and suddenly, on Friday morning, I saw these fenced-off patches. How can the BMC claim that the work will be completed with just 14 days left for its deadline from today (Sunday)? Shouldn't they have planned this in advance? When it starts raining, there are going to be massive traffic jams in the area," Zaveri said. He said he is sure that the work on the road will not be completed in time for the monsoon.

Footpaths too
The work of revamping the footpaths - replacing old paver blocks being replaced with new interlocking ones - is also going on. When he was asked when it would be completed, the workers on duty said it will take another 30-45 days. If the monsoon hits Mumbai on schedule - within the first two weeks of June - this means that the paver blocks will not be in place on time.

Pedestrians say this is a huge inconvenience for them as they have to walk on the road, which is dangerous, especially on the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, which sees heavy traffic.

"The work of placing paver blocks has been going on for quite long now. Besides, the BMC has removed bollards (short posts) from some other footpaths of the area, which has led to two-wheelers and four-wheelers being parked there. Even the fire hydrants are exposed," said Gaurang Vora, an activist from the area. Vora said he also believes that the work on the two road patches won't be finished before the monsoon since the process of ‘curing' for the concretisation itself will take 15 days.