Mumbai: BMC begins repair work on 140 roads

The Aarey Colony main road being concretised, on Tuesday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

As part of its pothole-free Mumbai goal, the BMC has started the concretisation of 140 roads, with a collective length of 70 km. The civic body has assured the Bombay High Court of weather-proof roads across the city in the next two-and-a-half years. Officials said work on more roads will start in phases as they are awaiting clearance from the traffic police.

In January, the civic administration got the go-ahead to concretise 532 roads that have a combined length of 236 km. However, the work didn't pick pace before the rain due to technical reasons, said officials. In July, the HC had pulled up the corporation over the city's potholed roads.

During the monsoon, the Aarey main road had become a motorist's nightmare. File pic

Mumbai's road network under the BMC control runs for about 2,050 km of which 990 km has already been concretised. With the monsoon officially ending on September 30, officials said, they will expedite the conversion of asphalt roads into concrete ones.

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"The work on the roads began before the monsoon but couldn't proceed during the rains. Now, we are trying to start the work on at least 60 per cent of the roads and the process of obtaining permission from the traffic police is going on," said a senior BMC official.

Work underway to concretise the Aarey main road. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Traffic clearance is mandatory for such work as vehicular movement on several major roads is already affected due to infrastructure projects.

Of the 140 roads that will become concrete in the first phase, about 70 are in the western suburbs and nearly 60 are in the eastern areas. Of the remaining 392 roads where work is yet to start, most will be in the southern part of the city.

Over the past few years, the BMC has concretised about 200 km of roads a year. "The speed of road construction not only depends upon technology or the ability of the civic machinery but also on various factors like traffic and utilities," said a civic official.

Sources said the BMC has also started the paperwork to invite tenders for the concretisation of 400 km of roads in the city.

BMC's assurance in HC

On September, Municipal Commissioner I S Chahal assured the high court that the civic body will concretise 2,050 km of roads under its jurisdiction within two-and-a-half years. The BMC said also that 500 km of the city roads are under agencies like MMRDA, Metro corporation, MSRDC, PWD, MHADA, BARC, RCF, Navy and Railways.

990KM
Length of roads already concretised

Off to a slow start

. BMC floated tenders for over 500 road works in April 2021
. It received bids quoting 30% less than the estimated value. Following allegations of corruption, BMC re-invited the tenders in September 2021
. The bids quoted 15%-20% less than BMC's estimates. The standing committee gave the go-ahead in Dec-Jan 2022
. While work orders were given immediately, technical reasons held up the concretisation
. Work on 140 roads started after monsoon

BMC's road math

2,050 km
Total length of roads under BMC's care

990 km
Already concretised

70 km
Work already started