Mumbaiites laud officials for blacklisting contractor who delayed repairs of promenade

The contractor was supposed to complete repairs within a year

After the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) on Monday blacklisted a contractor, responsible for repairing the Carter Road promenade, for delays, Bandra residents have welcomed the decision.

Workers repair promenade at Bandstand in Mumbai on Wednesday. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

The contractor was supposed to complete repairs within a year. Now, Bandra residents want the authorities to fast- track repairs on Carter Road and Bandstand where work costing more than Rs3 crore has been pending for a year. Bandstand residents complained of substandard work by the contractor when the MMB had inspected the promenade thee weeks ago, .

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mumbai chief and MLA Ashish Shelar said a new contractor would be appointed for Carter Road within 25 days. “We will consider residents’ suggestions this time,” said Shelar, who had also asked for a third-party audit of the MMB work.

Robin Nath of Bandra Bandstand Residents’ Trust said, “A third-party audit is necessary because it’s not just the contractor who is at fault.”

An MMB engineer said the new contractor will be given a shorter period. “Work at Carter Road started in September 2016 but Unitech Construction could not finish it,” said the official. “Work was delayed by two to three months as we needed clearance from the mangroves cell. Then, all our material was ruined on a high tide day. We were to complete the work by September 28,” said Ravi Shetye, representative of Unitech Construction.