Goyal lambasts BMC for shoddy road work in city, advises transfer of negligent officers

The sources, who attended the meeting, said that the minister questioned the pace of the ongoing road works, their quality, and the differing heights of the newly built cement roads and footpaths, which could cause a problem of water logging during the monsoon

MUMBAI: The city’s ongoing road and infrastructure works invited the wrath of union commerce minister and Mumbai North MP Piyush Goyal, who was in Mumbai to review the development works in his constituency. In his fourth review meeting on Saturday with senior officials from the BMC, collector’s office, MMRDA, MHADA, SRA and the police, Goyal took stock of various infrastructure and road works, and came down heavily on the BMC for doing a shoddy job, said sources.

Goyal lambasts BMC for shoddy road work in city, advises transfer of negligent officers

The sources, who attended the meeting, said that the minister questioned the pace of the ongoing road works, their quality, and the differing heights of the newly built cement roads and footpaths, which could cause a problem of water logging during the monsoon.

The MLAs at the meeting raised issues about the power cuts faced by citizens and the inadequate streetlights. “We brought up the tardy speed of the road work which needs to be completed before the monsoon,” said one. “The BMC commissioner clarified that all the road works undertaken would be completed by May 31.

The right of citizens to know the date of completion of the road works was also raised. The BMC has provided QR codes at sites where roadworks are on, but during the discussion it was stated that these did not work well and were not helpful.

Officially, however, Goyal claimed after the meeting that he was “satisfied” with the ongoing works, and instructed the BMC authorities to finish all road and drainage cleaning projects by May 31. “I have advised the municipal commissioner to transfer negligent officers,” he said. “The BMC has committed to completing work on 212 roads under four wards in North Mumbai by May 31. Also, 25% of the desilting work and the widening of Poisar and Dahisar rivers has been completed.”

The minister and MLAs also brought up the encroachments on the banks of the two rivers. “There was a discussion to shift these encroachers to homes of 269 sq ft that are ready and lying unused. There is a need to urgently speak to these encroachers and sort this issue out so that the widening and cleaning of the rivers can be undertaken,” said sources present at the meeting.

The sources said that BMC chief Bhushan Gagrani, during the meeting, emphasised how the civic body was taking the help of artificial intelligence to keep track of the ongoing road works. Recently, the BMC imposed heavy fines and strict penalties on contractors and ready-mix concrete (RMC) plants after exorbitant delays in road concretisation projects and discrepancies were found during slump tests. A slump test assesses the consistency and workability of fresh concrete.