BMC will need to build 800 km of concrete roads to meet the grand claim, but it hasn’t crossed the 200-km mark in a year
A concrete road being constructed at Borivli, in May. Pic/Nimesh Dave
Mumbai will have pothole-free roads within two years, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced. The BMC has proposed to concretise 400 km of roads other than the ongoing work on thoroughfares running up to 236 km. The CM’s claim and the BMC’s numbers appear exciting, but they are far from reality, said activists. To make Mumbai pothole-free, the civic body will need to build nearly 800 km of concrete roads in two years.
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The corporation could construct only 123 km of concrete roads—against the target of 250 km—in 2020-21. Against its plan to have 505 roads in 2022-23, it could build only 11 till the monsoon arrived. The corporation says concrete roads last longer and reduce the chances of potholes.
“If there is a political will, everything is possible but the [CM’s] statement is to be taken with a pinch of salt due to past experiences,” said Godfrey Pimenta, activist. “How will this happens is a million-dollar question since none of the utilities like water supply lines, electric cables, internet cables, television cables, pipes etc have been mapped by BMC.” BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal has said that 450 km of concrete roads will be planned in 2023-24.
Also read: Maharashtra: Another pothole death, as truck runs over pillion in Thane
Work on a road going on at Bycula. Pic/Shadab Khan
Activist Nikhil Desai this is not the first time someone has promised crater-free roads for Mumbai. “How many chief ministers, municipal commissioners, and chief engineers have promised pothole-free roads in the last 25 years, I have lost the count. But the condition hasn’t improved.”
Desai said the asphalt roads made by the BMC can’t even withstand one monsoon. “So the BMC has started announcing their intentions to make all roads in cement concrete. But in two years all roads getting concretised is very difficult.”
Even BMC’s former engineers find the claims exaggerated. “It is not just about making roads. For making even a half kilometre, we needed to tackle local issues. Shifting utility lines is a huge task besides the traffic police don’t give permission to dig up all the roads at a time. Metro work has already occupied many roads in the city,” said an ex-BMC official. The decision to shift all utilities to one side of the road brought the work to a crawl, said activists. Anil Galgali, an activist, said “Different agencies are working simultaneously in Mumbai. Roads fall into disrepair as service providers operate in their own way as well as due to negligence by contractors and authorities. Earlier, there were rackets which resulted in the deteriorating condition of roads. The work should be allotted to contractors who are ready to give a 15-year guarantee for roads. This is impossible without changing the modus operandi as the interest of contractors is kept in mind while awarding contracts.”
What the CM, BMC assured
In this financial year, concretisation on 236 km of roads is going on, and work on another 400 km of roads has been proposed. In 2023-24, the corporation will concretise 423 km of long roads. CM Shinde said the concrete roads will ensure that city will be potholes-free within two years.
Mumbai has a road network of 2,050 km of which 989.84 km of roads have already been concretised. Of the proposed 400 km of roads, roads running up to 50 km are in the island city.
Road work on slow track
. Of the 500 roads planned in 2020-21, work on 217 roads is still going on, work on 39 roads is yet to start
. In Dec 2021, BMC cleared work on 505 roads of which only 11 could be completed before the monsoon arrived
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