Mumbai: Experts slam costly concreting service road plan

Damaged service road in Goregaon, near Hub mall. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Experts in the city claim that the concreting of service roads along both the Western Express Highway (WEH) and Eastern Express Highway (EEH) is an expensive undertaking. They also suggest that concreting should be done only in areas with heavy traffic on the service roads.

Nadakumar Salvi, former member of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's road monitoring committee, said, "Concreting is a costly process. The cost of an asphalt road is around Rs 3,000 per square metre, whereas, for concrete, it exceeds Rs 12,000. Nowhere in the world are highways made of concrete. Even with Mumbai's rainfall, asphalt roads can work effectively if they are built to proper technical specifications, such as correct slope and drainage systems."

Salvi, a former BMC engineer, added, "There is no need to convert service roads to concrete, especially since there are underground utilities. For example, there is a main water trunk beneath the service road from Mulund to Chembur."

Road and traffic expert A V Shenoy questioned, "Can the BMC guarantee that the roads won't be dug up for 20 to 25 years, even with a proper ducting system?" Shenoy added, "While the number of heavy vehicles has increased over the years, that doesn't mean all asphalt roads need to be converted to concrete. Service roads are mainly designed to accommodate underground utilities because digging up the main road for utilities can cause damage."

Jitendra Gupta noted that some sections of the service roads are severely damaged due to the high volume of traffic. "These patches need urgent repairs, but the BMC should consider whether the entire length of the service road needs to be concretised, or if just certain sections require it," Gupta said.

Meanwhile, civic activist Anil Galgali recently wrote to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, urging him to scrap the plan for concreting the service roads of both the highways. Galgali highlighted that service roads are frequently dug up for underground utility repairs and argued that they should be made suitable for heavy vehicles instead.