The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) managed to concrete only 109 km of roads between February 2024 and 2025. Yet, according to tender conditions, stretches totalling approximately 594 km in length must be concreted by 2027, a feat activists believe is impossible.
According to civic chief Bhushan Gagrani’s budget statement on Tuesday, approximately 1333 km of 2025 km of roads had been concreted so far. According to civic data, as of February 2024, 1224 km of roads had been concreted in the city. This means BMC managed to complete only 109 km of road concreting in a year.
14th Road in Khar West
“The BMC started many road projects with few contractors. In the first phase, concreting work in the city was stuck. Now, the issue has been sorted but appointing a few contractors is making the work slow,” said civic activist Nikhil Desai. “It is not possible to meet the 2027 deadline. The BMC should appoint contractors at the ward level to increase the speed of the work,” Desai added.
Civic activist Anil Galgali expressed doubts over the claims of the BMC. “The work has already been delayed. Many roads developed cracks, and the BMC started repairing again after fining contractors. Though this is good, it creates problems for the citizens as work is delayed,” he said. “The BMC had appointed very few contractors, which may have caused delays,” he added.
Mian Mohammad Chotani Road in Mahim on Wednesday. Pics/Ashish Raje
Though all roads need to be concreted by 2027, as per the tender condition, the BMC attempted to complete the project before June 2026. Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said, “We are trying to complete 243 km of road work before the monsoon arrives this year. The second phase of concreting started in October 2024. We planned that 50 per cent of work related to the second phase should be completed before the monsoon and the rest afterwards. We are trying to finish all the work before the rainy season of 2026.”
The BMC is spending Rs 12,000 crore on the concreting of 703 km of roads. The first phase of concreting stretches totalling approximately 324 km started in October 2023. The BMC has managed to complete 26 per cent of this work so far. The second phase, the concreting of 377 km of roads, is also underway. In the budget speech, the civic body promised that 75 per cent and 50 per cent of the first and second phases, respectively, would be completed before June 2025.
Source link
