BMC goes back to failed plan for Mumbai's road quality

The civic body has appointed private agencies to monitor the quality of the roads that will be constructed after the expenditure of Rs 2500 crore This despite the massive scam of 2015 when hundreds of roads worth Rs 2052 crore were found to be shabby following which many BMC officials were sackedThe BMC had hired project management agencies between 2013 and 2015 to keep a check on the works It put an end to the practice after the road scam considered to be the biggest ever unearthed and asked its own engineers to inspect the construction work However faced with the issue of limited staff it has appointed agencies once again said civic officialsThe civic corporation has awarded contracts for the construction of 600 roads most of them to be cement concrete It invited tenders for road works in March 2021 and received quotes 30 per cent below the estimated value which raised concerns about the quality The BMC scrapped the process and reinvited tenders in September 2021 Between December 2021 and March 2022 the standing committee approved road works worth Rs 2500 crore and almost all of them were quoted 15 to 20 per cent below the estimated costThe eight quality management institutes that have been appointed by the BMC are Ms Construma Ms Famestructi Ms Techogem Ms Shrikhande Ms Tondon Ms Mahimtura Ms Raje and Ms TPF The BMC wants them to monitor the work that will take at least next three yearsThe work will be given on a roster basis or as per the chief of the roads department The agencies will get 2 per cent of the total work amount for the particular roadBMC officials said these agencies would mainly check if each layer of the road work site is in accordance with the standards laid down in the tender They will also be supervising the RMC Ready Mix Concrete plant to ensure the concrete being supplied for the construction work is of proper qualityldquoThe city has about 2000 km of roads and concreting of about 1000 km of them has been completed This year the BMC has undertaken the work of concreting about 200 km of roadsrdquo said an officialHe added that the reconstruction of the roads is carried out under the supervision of engineers from the roads department However the officers and engineers have many administrative tasks on their hands Hence agencies have been appointed for the monitoring of road worksldquoAppointing agencies to monitor the road works is a good step and will ensure the quality of roads But that doesnrsquot mean the BMC can shrug off its responsibility The BMC has to ensure that the agencies do their work properly and without any pressurerdquo said Anil Galgali an activistldquoThe BMC engineers will be mainly supervising the daytoday progress At critical stages the agencies will check the work independently Since 20 per cent of the amount of road construction work is withheld and will be released over 10 years at 2 per cent each year after the quality test the quality is expected to be maintained by agencies as well as the agenciesrdquo said P Velarasu additional municipal commissionerThe 2015 road scamIn 2015 the then mayor Snehal Ambekar wrote to the then BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta indicating a scam in road repair work leading to an enquiry which revealed the involvement of civic officials and contractorsThe examination of 34 roads worth Rs 352 crore found the work was shabbyThe enquiry was extended to 200 more roads worth Rs 1700 crore It concluded that the construction and repair work were substandardPolice took action against the contractors and thirdparty auditorsIn its internal probe carried out over two years the BMC found 169 civic officials guilty and charged most of them for lack of supervision or for failing to conduct their duty efficiently It sacked six engineers The BMC softened its stand and reduced the tainted contractorsrsquo blacklisting term to three years from seven in 2019The BMC wasnrsquot keen to take action against its own officials back then said Anil GalagalildquoI complained to the Lokayukta about the BMCrsquos reluctance to take action against its own people I requested it to ensure that disciplinary action was taken against themrdquo he added