Only 30 per cent of Mumbai roads are concreted

BMC sets 240-day deadline to finish remaining 70 per cent, but cracks in newly laid roads spark worry

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has completed 30 per cent of its road concreting project in one and a half years and aims to finish the remaining 70 per cent within the next eight months. The project, initiated in January 2023, involves converting 392 km of asphalt roads to concrete at a cost of Rs 6,050 crore, with only 30 per cent of the work completed so far.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar, during a meeting with BMC officials, set a 240-day deadline to finish the first phase of the 392 km road concreting. He directed sub-engineers to have assistant engineers create a detailed list of roads for the first and second phases and to prepare a monthly schedule for systematic follow-up, emphasising that incomplete roads should be prioritised.

“No new work should begin until the unfinished roads are completed,” Bangar said, adding that contractors should work simultaneously at multiple locations to expedite the process. He also assured that BMC would coordinate with the traffic police to obtain the necessary ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC). Due to recent cracks appearing in newly concreted roads, BMC has engaged the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai as a consultant for quality assurance, with an agreement to be signed within a week.

In the meantime, BMC has issued a tender for the second phase of the project, which plans to concretise 309 km of roads over the next two and a half years, at an estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore. Bangar also instructed engineers to maintain coordination with civic departments and private utility companies, such as those for gas and electricity, to prevent trenching after road work is completed. 

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