49 per cent of planned road concretisation work completed by May 31: BMC

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has completed 49 per cent of the total planned road length by May 31 under its ambitious road concretisation project the civic body stated on Tuesday according to news agency PTIThe road concretisation initiative was launched two years agoOf the total 2121 roads spanning 69844 km planned under Phase1 and Phase2 of the project work on 1385 roads covering 34274 km has been completed which is 4907 per cent of the overall target the release said according to PTIAmong the completed roads 771 stretches measuring 186 km have been concretised endtoend while 614 roads covering 15674 km have been completed from junction to junction or halfwidth it addedldquoUnder Phase I of the project a total of 700 roads covering 32008 km were taken up for concretisation As of May 31 582 of these roads have been completed amounting to 20336 km achieving 6353 per cent of the targeted work in this phaserdquo the Mumbai civic body said according to PTIldquoIn Phase II work to concretise 1421 roads spanning 37836 km was undertaken Of these 803 roads covering 13938 km have been completed so far reflecting a 3684 per cent completion rate for this phaserdquo the statement addedBarricades on the concretised roads have been removed along with construction materials and these roads have been opened for traffic following the completion of cement concretisation work the BMC saidSpeed controllers will be reinstalled once their list is finalisedldquoNo agency will be permitted to excavate these roads after concretisationrdquo it statedThe project was implemented within the stipulated timeframe and according to quality standards with the Indian Institute of Technology IITBombay acting as an independent thirdparty quality auditor the release saidMumbai civic body files police complaint after waste found dumped in recently cleaned Dharavi drainThe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has filed a police complaint against unidentified persons and establishments for dumping industrial waste into a cleaned drain near T Junction in Dharavi area of Mumbai an official statement said on TuesdayThe action comes after the BMC noticed a fresh accumulation of waste despite recent cleaningAccording to the BMC on Monday the civic officials from the BMCs solid waste management department visited the site and found materials such as thermocol rubber wrappers and parcel boxes dumped in the drain A police complaint has been lodged at Shahunagar Police Station under Section 326 A of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNS 2023The Mumbai civic body said that the act poses a serious threat to Mumbairsquos drainage system and monsoon preparedness Drains that have already been cleaned are getting clogged again due to floating waste which blocks the flow of rainwater and may lead to waterloggingThe BMC has been cleaning rivers and drains across the city as part of its monsoon readiness work The cleaning process is being carried out in a planned and systematic manner using Artificial Intelligence AI for better efficiency and transparency Senior BMC officials are personally inspecting desilting work across the city including eastern and western suburbs the BMC said adding thatdespite the major desilting work being completed floating garbage brought in by tidal waves continues to enter the drains As a result BMC teams have to clean them repeatedlyIt said that to stop garbage from entering the drains the BMC has taken several steps including placing metal nets at select locations as a pilot project Still some individuals or establishments continue to throw plastic bags furniture parts rubber and thermocol which hampers sewage flow and emergency operationsWith PTI inputs