To prevent irregular digging up of roads and to ensure a pothole-free city, the BMC has finalised its much-awaited duct policy. Approved last month by municipal commissioner and administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal, it entails underground ducting for utilities on each road. Observers are, however, wondering if it means digging up all roads yet again to lay these ducts.
Not a corner in Mumbai has been spared from digging by the BMC. In a lighter vein, one may think that the civic body is looking for some underground treasure.
Mumbai's road network
Mumbai has a road network of more than 2,050km, with over 400km of trenches dug up annually. Utility services such as water pipe lines, drainage lines, telephone lines, and power cable lines are among the list of 42 beneath our roads, which are frequently dug up by several agencies to repair faults. The resultant excavation leads to damaging the entire road, subsequently creating potholes. The current policy has been prepared after coordinating with all stakeholders, officials said.
As per the policy, “To avoid excavation of concrete roads less than 40mt wide, a side strip of approximately one metre shall be cast in RCC duct. During improvement, all the power and communication utilities shall be shifted to this duct. If the road width is more than 40mt, side strips of minimum 1.5mt are to be provided for new ducts.”
BMC aims to reduce trenches
To reduce trenches in the future, the BMC’s building proposal department will provide a list of roads, mentioning the constructed area on each plot, and the hydraulic and sewage departments calculating the maximum size of water and sewer connections.
The list of roads to be concretised and their geographical locations will be published online and through a public notice. With this, citizens can undertake new connections of water, sewage, and repairs, along with the road improvement work.
