Brace yourself for more digging: Rs 1,200 crore roadworks to begin in Mumbai

A potholed road in Kamathipura on July 21. File pic

With civic elections around the corner, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to take up road work in the coming months and has issued tenders worth Rs 1,200 crore for repair and reconstruction of 31 roads. Amid the fund crunch brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, there had been a delay in road works.

Bids received from contractors are under scrutiny and will soon be forwarded to the standing committee. Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has done away with a controversial condition of 60:40 contract basis payments in the current tenders. The condition used to lead to high contract prices.

Last year, amid cost-cutting due to Covid-19, the Roads Department had been at the receiving end. It was asked by the Accounts Department to cut down on project costs while elected representatives wanted to get major work done ahead of the civic elections in 2022.

In what comes as a relief for citizens and elected representatives, civic sources said that stage one tenders (roads that need urgent repairs and reconstruction) and also stage two (where repairs are not urgent but needed in due course of time) will be taken up depending on funds available.

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How 60:40 payment worked

In 2019, the cost of work on about 200 roads increased because of the 60:40 payment basis where contractors were asked to maintain the roads for 10 years. Explaining this process, BMC officials said that 60 per cent of the payment was to be released on the completion of work and 40 per cent was to be given to the contractors over 10 years, during which they were to maintain the roads. The new tenders do away with this condition, which was brought by former civic chief Praveen Pardeshi.

The current tenders have the regular defect liability period of three years and five years, sources said. Under this clause, if a road gets damaged within the prescribed period, the same contractor who built it would have to carry out repairs at no cost.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Infrastructure) and Chief Engineer of Roads, Rajan Talkar, confirmed the development, saying, "The bids received are currently under financial scrutiny. They will be tabled before the standing committee for approvals."