Mumbai seems to be in a complete shambles with road repairs going on in every part of the city.
Haphazard work proceeding at snail’s pace has failed to give citizens a smooth ride, making their commute utmost difficult. The Free Press Journal takes up the cause for the city highlighting the lackadaisical approach of the authorities and contractors. Today Part 2 focuses on – Eastern Mumbai
Mumbai : If the City has pending road works for the past several years, the eastern suburbs are no better. The BMC has undertaken road works worth approximately Rs 800 crore, which include 343 asphalt and 54 concrete roads, of which the civic body has been able to complete only 285 and 39 respectively. The remaining might take another two years to complete. This means a smooth commute will elude you at least for the year 2015.
The BMC’s Roads and Traffic department undertakes road works for strengthening and capital improvement. This means that existing roads which have been in bad shape are revamped, their dividers changed and painted, footpaths redone etc. The BMC has recently introduced interlocking paver blocks instead of the existing ones since they are more efficient. Thus, in all the areas where paver blocks are in bad condition, they will be replaced by the new interlocking ones.
Some of the major roads under improvement in the eastern suburbs include Madan Mohan Malviya Road, Jain Temple road, Jawaharlal Nehru road, Lokmanya Tilak road, Mahatma Phule Road in Mulund. Others include Telephone Exchange Road, North Bombay school road, Sanghani Estate road in Ghatkopar, Raheja Vihar road, Himalaya society road, New Mill road in Kurla and Abdul Hameed road, Shivaji Nagar Road no. 14 in M/East ward (Govandi). Some of the roads which will face the bulldozer in Bhandup include Vihar lake road, Saigalwadi Road, Kanjur Village Road, Padmavati road, Pratapnagar road etc.
“Every road project has a deadline which, if not followed, leads to the contractor being fined. But the BMC will complete work on 800 roads including city and suburbs by May. Rest will be completed after monsoon,” said Ashok Pawar, Chief Engineer, Roads and Traffic Department, BMC.
“Road improvement is just another name for adding another layer of asphalt over them. Every road has a three-year guarantee. But instead of fining and black-listing contractors who do shoddy work, the BMC goes ahead to appoint another contractor which again costs the taxpayers’ money,” said Rajkumar Sharma, member of the NGO AGNI. “Nowhere in the world are roads redone every other year. It is such a waste. And construction debris is a major issue which affects the city. Instead of owning up to it, the BMC passes on the buck to the contractor who leaves it untouched. If contractors were so good at it, wouldn’t they have been given the contract for solid waste dumping?” Sharma added.
Tanvi Deshpande
