Mumbai: At Rs 1,600 cr, roads grab the big bucks from BMC

Rain renews the debate over the quality of city roads as complaints of floods and potholes pour in. File pic

Roads continue to grab a bigger share of the pie as far as the BMC's budget goes. After spending nearly Rs 5 crore a day during the pandemic last year, the civic body plans to shell out Rs 1,600 crore on Mumbai's roads in the coming financial year with another promise of a smoother ride for citizens.

The fund allocation is over and above the BMC's budgetary provision of Rs 2,000 crore for the Coastal Road, Rs 1,300 crore for the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road and Rs 961 crore on bridges.

In all, the civic body has earmarked Rs 6,000 scrore, equivalent to one third of its development expenditure, on city's roads. Monsoon renews the debate on Mumbai's roads every year as complaints of potholes and floods pour in. The metropolis has a network of 1,900 km of thoroughfares running across its length and breadth.

Official data showed the corporation completed work on 123 km of roads between March and December 2020 and spent Rs 1,412 crore. It laid 66 kilometres of concrete roads, while the rest were made of asphalt.

In the financial year 2021-22, as per the budget presented by BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal, 145 kilometres of roads will be improved for Rs 1,600 crore. The provision also includes repairs on a few streets and new sign boards over a length of 500 km for Rs 53 crore.

On the ambitious Coastal Road, the allocation of Rs 2,000 crore may seem inadequate considering that the cost of the 10.5-km-long project is about Rs 12,000 crore, but officials explained that the expenses have been spread over five to six years. In the case of the Rs 8,000-crore Goregaon-Mulund Link Road, work is yet to start.

The hefty future allocation and last year's expenses last year prompted the opposition BJP to raise questions.

"Despite spending huge amounts on roads year after year, the condition of roads does not improve. We are waiting for an explanation from the administration on how so much money was spent on roads during the pandemic," asked Prabhakar Shinde, group leader of BJP.

Rs 1,412 cr
Amount spent by BMC on roads during pandemic