Brace for bumpy ride in Mumbai: With 5 days to deadline, BMC yet to repair 356 roads

Mumbai city news: Civic officials have asked contractors to redo stretches if the quality of the work is substandard

Expect some rough roads this monsoon. Five days before the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) May 31 deadline to complete road resurfacing and repairs in the city, the civic body has finished only 59% of the work.

A major reason for the delay has been the shutting down of more than 100 stone quarries in Thane, leaving contractors in a scramble to find raw material. (HT File Photo)

This means of the 878 roads taken up over a period of two months, the BMC has repaired just 522 of them.

A major reason for the delay has been the shutting down of more than 100 stone quarries in Thane, leaving contractors in a scramble to find raw material. However, the civic body assured the procurement of raw materials is back on track.

On Friday, the roads department said 205 roads will be repaired in the next six days. Of these roads, a majority (101) are Priority I and II roads, which are vulnerable and pothole-prone.

The BMC claimed 11 more roads will be repaired between June 1st and June 3rd.

Reiterating civic chief Ajoy Mehta’s statement, additional municipal commissioner IA Kundan said action will be initiated against contractors if work is not completed on time in the standing committee meeting on Friday.

Additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh said, “The completion of roads has been taken up on a war footing and will be completed by the deadline. All the roads will be made motorable before monsoon. At some places, if the quality of roads is not up to the standard, contractors have been even asked to redo entire stretches.”