BMC racing to fill up trenches haphazardly dug by utility agencies and telecom companies, who couldn't be bothered to return stretch to original form
Five Gardens, Matunga East. Pics/Datta Kumbhar
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The civic body has discovered, after decades, just why the city's roads are in the pits. The BMC has been allowing roads to be dug up haphazardly by utility agencies, without ensuring that the trenches are filled up properly. Some of these stretch longer than 20 km, and this year, the BMCu00c2u0080u00c2u0088has allowed more than 240 km of roads to be dug up.
A stretch of road at Bandra (East) previously dug up and now filled with debris and a gunny bag, leaving behind a gaping hole
An official from the road department said, "Telecom companies have done the maximum damage to city roads. There were several instances when a newly repaired road was re-dug by utility agencies."
The BMC is now racing to fill up the dug-up stretches and repair another 500 roads and junctions before the monsoon hits. mid-day had highlighted this issue last year too, exposing how the BMC first built 600 km of roads and then allowed 685 km to be dug up in the same period. Following this, in October, municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta directed ward officials to ensure that roads are dug up only after proper planning. But the ground reality hasn't changed.
No lessons learnt
This year, some of the trenches stretch as long as 21.6 km (P/North ward), and even the shortest is 1.1-km-long (B/ward). Around 21 km of the city's road surface is still dug up. The civic body is also chasing a May end deadline for the repair of another 500 roads and junctions.
Nikhil Desai, member of the F-north Citizens Federation, said, "In Matunga, last year, almost all roads were dug up by a company that was installing CCTV cameras and a telecom giant that was laying 4G cables. The reinstatement was not up to the mark and we faced lot of problems during the rains."
He added, "This year, a power company dug up several footpaths and roads. I have been complaining to the ward office for the last 20 days, but no action is being taken. We are once again set for a horror monsoon."
BMC chief cracks whip
Last month, Mehta warned the road department and ward officials to fix the trenches. "Mehta was not happy with the reinstatement work and came down heavily on officials. He directed that work be speeded up," said an official, who was part of the meeting.
Chief engineer (Roads and Traffic) Sanjay Darade said, "We have instructed all ward officials to speed up the reinstatement of trenches. The work will be completed before May 30 to avoid any inconvenience to motorists."
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