Western suburbs on the road to disruption |
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A dug-up portion of the Link Road in the Lokhandwala area of Andheri
The western suburbs is where you dont want to be caught travelling this monsoon. The roads there are in pitiful shape.
Upto 70 kilometres of them, earlier dug up so that civic utilities could do work, are yet to be fully reinstated.
Either the roads have not yet been tarred, or trenches in them not yet filled. Or, debris is yet to be cleared.
If left incomplete, the lashing by the rains will cause the roads to deteriorate, scattering debris and creating dangerous potholes.
Additional municipal commissioners Gautam Chatterjee and Girish Pradhan say work is on in full swing to meet the May 31 deadline. D D Naik, civic chief engineer (Roads), says the deadline will be met.
Now, it remains to be seen if these promises are met, or if the BMC has dug too deep in the past year.
This is the second of a three-part series on whether the BMC has the city ready for the monsoons. Tomorrow, what has the BMC done to reduce flooding on the railway tracks? A significant number of dug-up roads in Mumbais western suburbs wont be completely refilled and tarred before the rains begin. So, when they come, the rains are likely to further damage the half-repaired roads, creating more potholes and disrupting pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had set May 31 as the deadline for contractors to complete work on 800 kilometres of city roads, which various utilities wanted dug up to lay pipes, electricity and telephone lines, etc. In fact, the original deadline to reinstate all roads in the city had been April 15. It had been later pushed back to April 30.
In the western suburbs, 60 to 70 kilometres of roads are yet to be tarred and levelled, according to Additional Municipal Commissioner Gautam Chatterjee.
Where trenches have been refilled and debris cleared, complaints of shoddy work by contractors are streaming in.
It is also feared that, in a last-minute rush to meet the deadline, quality may be further sacrificed.
Chatterjee said, We will try to finish all work on time. Work in the eastern suburbs is over, but in the western suburbs we are lagging behind.
In town and south Mumbai, where not too much digging had been undertaken, roads have already been reinstated.
The untarred Akruli Road in KandivliMeanwhile, the BMCs vigilance department, asked to look into complaints of haphazard and shoddy work, has confirmed that quality has suffered at places. Chatterjee said, In some cases, the quality of work is objectionable. In others, the finishing has not been done properly.
At some places, contractors have disappeared from the scene, leaving work unfinished. Ravindra Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party leader in the BMC, said: There has been negligence on the part of BMC officers as they have not bothered to supervise work done by contractors.
However, D D Naik, chief engineer (Roads), maintained: We have officers supervising work.
Asked about the poor quality of work, he said it was for the chief officer of the vigilance department to comment on that.
Naik confirmed that about 80 kilometres of city roads are yet to be reinstated, but he said the work will be done by May 31. He also denied the existence of potholes in the city. At this time, there are no potholes. They are usually created after the first heavy showers, he said.
Meanwhile, the corporation is facing a problem with regard to clearing dug-up debris, especially in the suburbs, sources said. In some areas, debris has to be removed at the earliest, a BMC official, who did not wish to be named, said.
Every year, the amount of debris dumped on roads is very high before the monsoons, he said.
Most people complete construction or repairs on their buildings before the monsoon and dump the debris on roads, the official added.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Girish Pradhan has promised, Work on clearing debris is on in full swing and will be over before rains arrive.
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