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243 roads dug up in H West ward, many utilities damaged

Feb 03, 2025 07:30 AM IST

BMC's road-digging in H West ward has disrupted utilities, caused pollution, and raised citizen concerns over coordination and safety during construction.

MUMBAI: The BMC has dug up a staggering 243 roads in H West ward, covering Bandra, Khar and Santacruz West, causing damage to major utilities at multiple locations. Concerns on this were raised by over 120 citizens from 18 citizen groups during an ALM meeting held last week, chaired by Mumbai guardian minister and MLA Ashish Shelar.

243 roads dug up in H West ward, many utilities damaged
243 roads dug up in H West ward, many utilities damaged

The damage done includes the disruption of street lights and gas pipeline connections, water contamination and sewer water flowing into stormwater drains, which in turn is contributing to mosquito-breeding. The situation has exacerbated the already existing troubles of roads being shut, traffic diversions and dust pollution from construction.

The ALMs, which function like a mini opposition and are considered the eyes and ears of the administration, had gradually become defunct over the years. January 25 saw the ward’s sixth ALM meeting in six years, a marathon that went on for two hours primarily to discuss the problems caused by the unfettered road-digging. HT had carried a report last month about how Shelar had revived ALMs for improved civic engagement in governance.

Aftab Siddique, chairperson of the Linking Road 33rd Road ALM said that the 243 roads being dug up by three departments—waterworks, roads and stormwater drains—were being done without any coordination. “Besides, there’s MMRDA’s metro work and buildings under redevelopment contributing to air pollution,” she said. “The roads are not cleaned. There is no traffic coordination. The contractors have not even put up the details of the road projects.”

Siddique said that the BMC excavators had damaged many utility lines, particularly the Mahanagar Gas, Adani Electricity and water supply lines. “At Hotel Kadamb Lane on Linking Road, the street lights are not functioning,” she said. “On 7th Road, sewage water seepage has been found in drinking water supply pipes, rendering it unpotable. Outside Sadanand Classic and Ram Kutir in Khar West, the sewage water has seeped into the storm water drains over the last 31 days.”

The civic activist said there was no BMC engineer overseeing the situation. “Where was the need to dig up the whole ward when they don’t have adequate staff to monitor?” she demanded. “In some places like 33rd Road, eight potable water points were plugged, and two sewer water sources are filling the storm water drain. The ALMs are not even informed about these road projects.”

Deyasini Choudhary of the Chapel Road ALM, said, “There is total mismanagement of utilities after road-digging on Chapel Lane, Saraswat Colony and other lanes where the already ancient sewage and water lines have been damaged. The workers keep digging till they hit the utilities, and there is no supervision. The buildings in the area are getting affected in the process. With no corporator on the horizon, we have to figure out on our own what is happening on our roads.”

Vidya Vaidya, a seasoned activist from the Bandra Reclamation Area Volunteers Organisation, said, “We have suggested that information about road projects, including timelines, be provided at the outset to avoid the need for U-turns, which cause major traffic jams. We want clear communication from the start, with proper diversion signs, and not all roads should be dug up at once. While we understand the BMC’s constraints to complete work before the monsoon, it should be done in phases.”

Vaidya explained that many of the roads were narrow, and utilities were not properly mapped. “Even if engineers claim to know what’s underground, they aren’t present when the machines damage water, gas, and electric lines,” she said. “This is dangerous for the JCB operators as well. The roadwork is creating chaos, and we insist that those doing the digging should have access to utility maps.”

At the meeting, the BMC finally made a PowerPoint presentation, providing citizens with a status update on the roads taken up for digging in H West ward.

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