Mumbai: The BMC has received some complaints about cracks appearing on newly concretised roads across the city. Civic officials have traced the issue to lapses in monitoring at Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) plants, as well as insufficient oversight during the crucial curing process.
A senior civic official confirmed that the consultants responsible for quality monitoring will be penalised for failing to ensure proper procedures were followed during both mixing and curing.
The BMC is investing Rs 12,000 crores to concretise nearly 800 kilometers of roads across Mumbai. In Phase 1, the BMC has undertaken the concretisation of 324 km of roads to be completed by May 31 2025. Currently, work is underway on 213 roads, while 298 roads are yet to be concretised.
In Phase 2, which covers 1,420 roads, 433 are under construction, with many still pending. Despite the progress, the civic body has been receiving complaints about cracks developing on newly concretised roads, raising concerns about the quality of the work being carried out.
Bhushan Gagrani, the Municipal Commissioner, emphasised that concretisation is the key solution to addressing Mumbai’s ongoing pothole problem. He stated, "I have written to all utilities departments, informing them that they will not be granted trenching permissions for the next 20 years. They must complete their works now. Once a road is concretised, there will be no further digging allowed."
He admitted receiving complaints about cracks developing on concretised roads. "The issue stems from lapses in monitoring at the RMC plants, as well as insufficient oversight during the curing process. The consultants responsible for quality monitoring assurance (QMAs) will be held responsible and fined for not ensuring the proper procedures were followed during the mixing and curing of the concrete," added Gagrani.
Following the survey, last month a notice was issued to 71 sub-engineers, 15 assistant engineers, and five executive engineers who were responsible for overseeing the concretisation work in their respective areas. Additionally, any roads found with substandard work will be repaired at the contractor's expense, said civic sources.
