Mumbai: October rains put brakes on BMC's road job

Recent unseasonal showers push contractors on the back foot as they admit they haven't been able to start scheduled road repairs for lack of dry sites

If the weird October weather, unusual or not, has got you in a fix, you're not alone. It's also stalled the civic body's road repair work, with sporadic evening rain playing havoc with the corporation's schedule. Lack of dry sites has been making it difficult for the BMC-appointed contractors to fill potholes and other damaged stretches with asphalt and cement concrete.

Since October 1, BMC has managed to start work on 143-odd roads in the city. Representation pic

According to the figures available with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), since October 1, it has managed to start repair and reconstruction of 143-odd roads across the city. With water accumulating on sites due to rainfall in the evenings, officials have been forced to stop the work.

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Civic officials say contractors have been unable to start work as water has accumulated at many sites. Sporadic evening showers have upset BMC’s schedule as most work is carried out at night. Representation pic

Civic officials said this year BMC set a target of starting 1,668 works on a total length of 459 km in a phase-wise manner by October 1, to be completed by May next year.

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Work break-up
Chief engineer of roads department Vinod Chithore told mid-day, "After monsoon, we have taken up more than 140 roads for repairs; later, more will be taken up. Repairs on 99 projects (refers to complete reconstruction of a road) and 43 priority works (refers to fixing bad roads and their persistent issues like potholes, pits and other damages) had been started. But with the rain becoming a regular feature over the last few days, we've had to stop the work."

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"A majority of the work is done at night; but as there has been water on the sites, contractors haven't been able to start it. This could affect the deadline," he added. According to the figures, currently, in the island city, civic body has started 17 projects and 14 priority works, while in the eastern suburbs 73 projects and 12 priority works, and in the western suburbs 45 projects and 17 priority works have begun. This year, till June, the civic body completed 561 road repair works on a total length of 137 km across the city.

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