Ex-corporator complains about delay in road concretisation

Though groundbreaking ceremonies for cement-concrete (CC) roadworks were held some time ago and work was scheduled to start on October 1, it has not taken off despite the passage of nearly a month since the deadline

Mumbai: Former BJP corporator Makarand Narwekar has written to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Bhushan Gagrani about the delay in road concretisation work in south Mumbai. Though groundbreaking ceremonies for cement-concrete (CC) roadworks were held some time ago and work was scheduled to start on October 1, it has not taken off despite the passage of nearly a month since the deadline, Narwekar said in the letter addressed to Gagrani.

Ex-corporator complains about delay in road concretisation

The former corporator mentioned two key roads, Ramnath Goenka Road and VN Road, wherein the ground-breaking ceremonies were conducted in the presence of Colaba MLA Rahul Narwekar. Despite this, work on concretising the two roads has not started yet, he said, adding that the delays were causing severe inconveniences to citizens as well as cost escalation. Roadways Solution Infra India Ltd (RSIIL), the company which was initially awarded the contract for road concretisation in south Mumbai, failed to begin work on time, after which the project was reassigned to NCC Ltd, he said in the letter. Although the contractor initially quoted a 9% increase over the original estimate, the contract was ultimately negotiated down to 4%, still costing the BMC an additional ₹52 crore.

Narwekar demanded strict punitive measures against errant contractors, including a fine of ₹1 lakh per day. “Contractors are only penalised on paper while contracts are often awarded at inflated costs, which is nothing short of looting the citizens,” he stated in his letter.

Narwekar has raised concerns about delays and cost escalations with the BMC in the past as well and claims to have helped save ₹70 crore of public money by opposing inflated contracts. In his latest letter, he has urged the BMC to take the project more seriously and suggested that auditors be appointed to oversee timely completion of work. He has also proposed the creation of a live dashboard to track progress and ensure transparency and accountability.

When queried about the delay in roadworks, a senior civic official said that work has commenced at many locations after no objection certificates were received from the traffic department. “But no additional work can be taken up now as the model code of conduct is in place,” he said.