Repairs of 88 roads come to a standstill amid lockdown

The lockdown following Covid-19 outbreak has brought the construction work of 88 roads to a halt in the city and deadlines of many of the ongoing projects are likely

The lockdown following Covid-19 outbreak has brought the construction work of 88 roads to a halt in the city and deadlines of many of the ongoing projects are likely to be extended by a few months.

HT Image

To avert any trouble to Mumbaiites during the monsoon, the civic administration commenced over 400 roads construction and repair works. Of these, works on 68 were completed and construction of 247 projects was in progress. However, 88 projects are affected due to the hotspot restrictions in the city.

“Yes, it is true that projects have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and we have lost a bit of time, but when the problem is over we shall resume construction,” deputy municipal commissioner (infrastructure) Sanjay Darade said.

He further explained that currently, they are unable to move construction machinery from one place to another due to the coronavirus outbreak that has affected traffic movement in the city. “We have now lost precious time, but we will start work as soon as possible to finish the work,” he added.

Out of the 88 affected projects, 52 projects were from the city, 10 projects from eastern suburbs and 26 from western suburbs. The civic body has deployed 1,511 labourers on these projects.

Furthermore, availability of construction raw material including sand, steel and cement also needs to be factored in, added the official. The state and the civic body is handling the critical situation on a war footing.

Coronavirus has affected the road construction projects from Jijamata Nagar Worli, Dharavi, Andheri, Kurla and Goregaon. Even after the lockdown is revoked on May 17, the civic work will take another 15 more days time for workers to come back.