BMC's extensive road repair scheme to disrupt city traffic

02 Feb 2024 CW Team

It was revealed that Mumbai has approximately 2,050 km of roads, and in 2022, the BMC had decided to convert all asphalt roads into cement concrete ones. Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velarasu confirmed the update, stating, ?BMC will invite tenders for the remaining 400 km of roads for concreting very soon.? An official mentioned that the tender would include minor roads of three and six meters for concreting. BMC had already converted 1,148 km of roads into concrete ones by 2022, with the concreting of 990 km completed by that time. During 2022-23, BMC finished concreting 158 km of roads, and currently, work on concreting 400 km of roads was in progress.

In 2023, BMC had allocated a tender worth Rs 62.50 billion for converting 400 km of roads. However, a contract for south Mumbai worth Rs 16 billion had to be cancelled recently, as the contractor failed to initiate work until December 2024. Consequently, BMC decided to invite fresh tenders for south Mumbai. Work in the suburbs had not yet reached 10 percent of the total work.

As per the tender, the concreting of roads was expected to take a minimum of 24 months, excluding the monsoon season. The commencement of work on new roads was scheduled for October 2024. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray wrote a letter to civic chief I S Chahal, expressing concerns about what he deemed as another misuse of taxpayer money. Thackeray raised questions about the Rs 2 billion fine, urging BMC to declare when they would collect it. He also demanded that BMC refrain from allowing the same contractors who had not completed 90 percent of the current work and those who had outstanding dues or fines. P Velrasu assured that the penalties imposed on contractors would be recovered from the running bill.

Soon, it was announced that 40 percent of Mumbai roads would undergo repairs, further exacerbating the existing chaos caused by the dug-up roads. The decision to concrete 400 km of asphalt road was made by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and a tender worth Rs 70 billion was to be invited for the same. The draft of the tender, which would be published soon, was being prepared by the BMC. It was revealed that Mumbai has approximately 2,050 km of roads, and in 2022, the BMC had decided to convert all asphalt roads into cement concrete ones. Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velarasu confirmed the update, stating, ?BMC will invite tenders for the remaining 400 km of roads for concreting very soon.? An official mentioned that the tender would include minor roads of three and six meters for concreting. BMC had already converted 1,148 km of roads into concrete ones by 2022, with the concreting of 990 km completed by that time. During 2022-23, BMC finished concreting 158 km of roads, and currently, work on concreting 400 km of roads was in progress. In 2023, BMC had allocated a tender worth Rs 62.50 billion for converting 400 km of roads. However, a contract for south Mumbai worth Rs 16 billion had to be cancelled recently, as the contractor failed to initiate work until December 2024. Consequently, BMC decided to invite fresh tenders for south Mumbai. Work in the suburbs had not yet reached 10 percent of the total work. As per the tender, the concreting of roads was expected to take a minimum of 24 months, excluding the monsoon season. The commencement of work on new roads was scheduled for October 2024. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray wrote a letter to civic chief I S Chahal, expressing concerns about what he deemed as another misuse of taxpayer money. Thackeray raised questions about the Rs 2 billion fine, urging BMC to declare when they would collect it. He also demanded that BMC refrain from allowing the same contractors who had not completed 90 percent of the current work and those who had outstanding dues or fines. P Velrasu assured that the penalties imposed on contractors would be recovered from the running bill.

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