Mumbai : While the BMC’s 2014 parting kick to the city was the repair of 224 roads at the same time, experts and activists are now raising a stink over whether all rules were followed in the process. According to them, a number of ongoing road works do not have the mandatory signs put up for information or security, and are adding to air pollution apart from traffic snarls.
“I want to know that if most of the ongoing road works are going to last till May next year, how are their bills going to be paid in this financial year? That’s impossible. This naturally means that a large part of the department’s funds are going to be left unutilised,” said Jitendra Gupta, a city-based transport expert. Gupta was referring to a budgetary allocation of Rs 2,309 crore which was made for Roads and Traffic department for the year 2014-15, of which Rs 1,470 crore is unutilized so far.
PRV Raghavan, another activist from Tilak Nagar asked why roads in bad conditions for the past 8-10 years were not being repaired. “Adding layers of asphalt and concrete causes these roads to become taller by about two metres. This causes nearby residential buildings to become inundated during monsoons. The BMC should not just add layers haphazardly,” Raghavan said.
Tanvi Deshpande
