Mumbai concrete road works will be of top quality, IAS officer to oversee them: Minister

CSMT, Mumbai. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Industries Minister Uday Samant on Tuesday assured the legislative council that The Maharashtra government is committed to ensuring that no concrete road work in Mumbai is of substandard quality.

As per PTI, he stated that a senior bureaucrat has been assigned to oversee the coordination of road concretization projects in Mumbai, ensuring their execution while maintaining top-quality standards and safety protocols.

His response came in reply to a starred question raised by BJP MLC Prasad Lad.

Unlike unstarred questions, which receive written responses from ministers, starred questions require oral answers on the floor of the House.

"To ensure proper coordination of all road concretization projects in Mumbai, a decision has been taken to appoint an IAS officer. This officer will be responsible for overseeing the quality and progress of the work," Samant noted.

The decision was taken during a meeting held under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who holds urban development and public works (state enterprises) portfolios, on Monday.

Addressing opposition criticism over the exclusion of council members from the meeting, the minister confirmed that a separate meet with MLCs would be convened soon, as per PTI.

Shoddy work? Newly built Aarey roads in Mumbai already falling apart

At one spot, concrete surface has started peeling off, residents fear that it might get washed away during the monsoon season.

It's not only cement concrete (CC) stretches built by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that are developing cracks - the surface of a CC road made by the public works department (PWD) less than six months ago in Aarey Milk Colony has also begun to fissure.

At one location, the surface has started peeling off. The PWD is repairing internal roads measuring 45 km in the colony and as part of this, some sections are being concreted, though the majority of the stretch will be made of tar.

On Monday, when mid-day visited the colony, cracks could be seen on the stretch between Royal Palms and Aarey market.

Spread over 16 sq km, Aarey Milk Colony, which is home to more than 60,000 residents, comprises 27 tribal hamlets, slum pockets, cattle farm units and the Royal Palms area.

In March 2024, news reports revealed that the Bombay High Court instructed the agriculture, animal husbandry, dairy development, and fisheries department to accelerate the repair of 45 km of internal roads in Aarey Milk Colony.

Alleging that proper materials were not used, Shiv Sena (UBT) Shakhapramukh and Aarey resident Sandeep Gadhave said, "The newly made CC road stretch from Aarey market towards the dairy and Royal Palms started developing cracks within less than six to eight months of construction, once again highlighting that shoddy work is being done. At one location, the CC has started coming off and we fear that it might get washed away during monsoon. The main road in Aarey, which was constructed by BMC, is also seeing the same issue."

Gadhave wrote a letter to the officials in charge of the road work on Monday, demanding that be taken action against the contractor concerned after carrying out an independent inspection to check the quality of the roads.

(With inputs from PTI)