Mumbai: Contractor, agencies fined 8 months after mid-day exposed cracked Aarey road

Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar recently spotted the cracked road in Aarey Milk Colony. File pic

Months after mid-day highlighted how a newly constructed road at Aarey Colony developed a crack, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has finally fined the contractor and quality-monitoring agencies involved.

The civic body has ordered that the cracked stretch be repaired. It has also decided to issue a written warning to engineers and appoint IIT Bombay as a third-party auditor to look into the quality of the work. Repeated mistakes on the part of the contractor could result in blacklisting.

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The crack was exposed by mid-day on December 7, 2023. After the report was published, the BMC ordered the contractor to repair the stretch. Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar spotted the crack during a recent visit, prompting him to immediately order repairs.

"We are committed to providing citizens with high-quality roads. Quality will not be compromised. We are taking strict action against the contractor as well as the quality monitoring agencies," Bangar said.

"Engineers are also advised to be more vigilant to ensure quality control," he added.

According to officials, the cost of these repairs will be deducted from the contractor's payments. Any future defects will incur double penalties, and repeated mistakes could result in disqualification from future municipal projects, the civic body warned. The agencies concerned have been told to be more vigilant.

Meanwhile, the BMC has started repairing a 7-km stretch in Aarey Milk Colony, which costs Rs 51 crore. Concreting has been completed on 4 km. An area spanning 1,190 sq m has been repaired while the BMC had imposed a Rs 28.45 lakh fine on the errant contractor concerned.

Rs 51cr
Cost of repairing 7-km stretch in Aarey