Mumbai: Four years on, BMC finally rebuilds Andheri-Ghatkopar link road

The Andheri-Ghatkopar link road on Tuesday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

After cracks developed on the newly built Andheri-Ghatkopar link road, the BMC turned to VJTI for technical advice and rebuilt a portion of the road. The reconstruction is likely to become a flashpoint between the ruling and opposing parties.

A proposal for approval of VJIT's fees - R10 lakh - will come up for discussion in BMC's standing committee on Wednesday.

The link road, a concrete carriageway, was reconstructed in 2016 after it got damaged due to Metro work. However, within four years, cracks surfaced at various places on the 4.3-km road that is 45.46 metres wide.

Construma Consultant Private Limited which had completed the work informed the BMC that their design and layouts were foolproof, following which the corporation roped in VJTI and inspected the sites on March 16, 2020. Accordingly, the VJTI gave a technical report, paving the way for partial reconstruction of the road.

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"The road was damaged and it could not be closed due to heavy traffic. So it was rebuilt by laying another level of concrete in 2016. But some cracks developed on it. The technical advice had been taken from VJTI to repair the patches," said Rajan Talkar, chief engineer of the road department. He added that about 80 per cent of the work is already over and the road now is in good condition. Talkar insisted that traffic was not affected due to the work.

"Who approved the designs for the construction of the road? The reports of the earlier consultant and VJTI must be tabled in the committee and the responsibility should be fixed. It is not only the issue of R10 lakh but the double construction cost, wastage of manpower as well as hindrance to traffic," said Prabhakar Shinde, group leader of BJP.

4.3km
Length of the road