Mumbai: BMC scrapes parts of road to stop vehicles skidding

A BMC official said if the experiment is successful, then the surface on the entire road will be turned uneven with the machine

After mid-day's report on the 'too' smooth Gorai jetty road that was causing vehicles to skid, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) literally scrapped some of its surface to make it safer. On Tuesday it sent a milling machine to scrape the surface in some patches to make the road rough. Many local residents had complained that the newly built road posed a risk to motorists as vehicles kept skidding on it.

The brand new road connects the Gorai jetty to T junction. The two-km stretch was constructed with mastic asphalt and opened to the public last month. "The vehicles kept skidding and there were several accidents. Fortunately, there was no serious injury reported. We complained to the BMC but no one was looking at it seriously. Another vehicle skid on Monday morning," said Godfrey Pimenta, an activist.

After the report was published in mid-day, the BMC sent a milling machine to the road. "We have started to scrape the surface on a few patches on the road to make it rougher. The patches will prevent skidding," said an official from the BMC. He said if the experiment is successful, then the surface on the entire road will be turned uneven with the machine.

Pimenta said the scrapping will solve the issue to some extent. But ideally, they should have mixed more gravel while constructing it. Earlier, the BMC officials said that the road was constructed with modern technology and had speed restriction boards, but speeding vehicles which brake suddenly may skid.