Road work incomplete, BMC invites tenders for new work

Workers carry out pothole-filling work on an internal road in Aarey Milk Colony on July 14, 2021. File pic/Satej Shinde

Despite starting work related to the concretisation of roads worth R8,000-crore and claiming Mumbai will be pothole-free within two years, the BMC on Friday invited tenders worth Rs 125 crore to resurface roads, which may have developed potholes, before the monsoon. The civic body is aiming to finalise the tenders by May 4.

As per BMC's data, there is hardly 420 km of roads (20 per cent of the city's total road network) for which concentration contracts have not yet been given.

Of the total 2,050 km of roads in the city, 990 km is already concretised. The work on concretising 236 km of roads began in 2022 and work related to 400 km of roads started this year.

The contract for the remaining 423 km is yet to be given out despite the civic body assuring the Bombay High Court that it would concretise all the roads within two years on September 30, 2022. But even after six months, hardly any road works seem to be completed and the BMC appears to have floated the tenders in a hurry.

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Last year, the BMC faced public wrath over pothole-ridden roads, so the civic body has decided to precautionary measures now. "There are some patches, especially junctions, where the road surface needs repairs. So, we will apply mastic asphalt to prevent damage," said an official from the roads department.
The BMC floated zone-wise tenders ranging from Rs 15 crore to Rs 25 crore. There are seven zones in the city.

2,050km
Length of city's road network