As part of a pilot initiative, the civic body starts survey at Andheri; once the report is in, work will start on four or five roads that are at least six metres wide, say corporation officials
Road survey work in progress for the utility duct pilot project at Andheri on Tuesday
The BMC is again working on its utility duct project on major roads. The civic body has started a pilot project at Andheri on Tuesday. The ducts will help avoid digging up of the roads for maintenance and repair of underground utility lines.
Ulhas Mahale, chief engineer of the roads department, said, “The civic body is planning to lay ducts on every road with a width of 6 metres or more. We started a trial run at Andheri to map underground utilities with the help of radar and the survey report will be available by April 18. After studying the report, we will start the pilot project on four-five roads.”
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Another official said, “The BMC conducted a ground penetration radar survey which will help evaluate the possibility and success of ducting. There are nearly 1,000 roads which are more than 6 metres wide.” BMC has appointed a contractor for trenching work at a cost of Rs 383 crore for three years. “This is a good idea. The BMC should have worked on it earlier,” said Andheri MLA Amit Satam.
Why ducting is a good idea
An official from the roads and traffic department said, “A high court-appointed statutory technical advisory committee suggested that BMC implement the Duct Policy in Mumbai to prevent road damage a few years ago. The roadside ducts will prevent frequent digging of roads for utility work. In Mumbai, there have been instances where newly constructed roads were also dug up.”
“There are at least 40 types of underground utilities under the roads such as water pipelines, stormwater drains, electricity cables, telecommunication lines, gas pipelines, sewerage lines and internet cables. As per BMC record, nearly 400 km of roads are dug up every year to lay underground utility,” BMC officials claimed.
An official said, “Regular trenching is affecting road quality. BMC asks every agency if they need to repair or lay new utilities before road repair starts. But many times after the road is repaired, the agency asks for permission for excavation and the permission can’t be denied as it is essential. But this has an impact on the quality of roads,” said an official.
Opposition
Former opposition leader of BMC Ravi Raja, however, slammed the civic body saying, “Road repairing work proposal was passed in January 2022 by the civic body. And now it remembers ducts. This is hampering road repair. Mumbai does need a duct policy, but the BMC should have done this survey in advance so that the road work would not be delayed.
Past attempt
According to a BMC official, the civic body laid ducts on 11 roads for the first time in 2013, but the utility agencies did not use them as there were several technical issues. Following this, BMC framed a new policy for ducts in 2018. Civic activist Sanjay Gurav said, “We have so far only heard about the duct policy but never saw any work on the ground. Hopefully this time the BMC will implement the policy seriously.”
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