Mumbai pothole mess this year too? BMC racing against time to complete road repairs

BMC officials have instructed contractors, ward officers and engineers to not dig up any more roads and to fast-track work on dug-up roads.

With hardly two months from the onset of monsoon in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) roads department faces a crisis.

Road repairs have been hit owing to the shutting of stone quarries in Thane (HT)

According to an official, the department cannot procure material for road works from its major sources.

This has forced the civic body to look for more sources so as to ensure that the contractors don’t miss the monsoon deadline.

Also, officials have instructed contractors, ward officers and engineers to not dig up any more roads and to fast-track work on dug-up roads.

If sources are to be believed, the civic chief is likely to approach chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and ask him to intervene in this case.

Recently, Thane collector, Mahendra Kalyankar, had ordered the shutting down of over 100 stone quarries, as they did not have the permission from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to operate it.

According to officials, a majority of contractors working with the BMC get their materials from Navi Mumbai (which falls under Thane district).

A civic official said, “We have asked the contractors to get material from other quarries in Nashik and Pune and also no new roads will be dug. Officers have also been instructed to list other sources from where material can be procured.”

According to a source, whatever extra is spent by the contractors can be claimed by them after they complete work.