Mumbai road concreting to resume in October after monsoon withdrawal, says BMC

Work on 590 roads is yet to be completed under the two phases of the civic body’s ambitious concreting project. Representation Pic/Nimesh Dave

With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) expecting standard monsoon withdrawal in Mumbai by October 8, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to resume the concreting of roads.

A senior civic official told mid-day on Thursday that contractors have been reminded to resume the work within the first five days of October. The said communication has been sent by chiefs of the relevant departments three weeks prior to the resumption.

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According to the BMC's public dashboard, work remains on 590 roads spanning 138 km that remain under the first two phases of the civic body's road concreting project. Work will start on 274 roads (stretching 75 km), while work will resume on 63 km of the partially completed 316 roads.

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Work on 590 roads is yet to be completed under the two phases of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's ambitious concreting project. Representation Pic/Ashish Raje

"Contractors already have the BMC's approval; they just require the Mumbai Traffic Police's nod before they start any work," stated a civic official.

The highest percentage of remaining concreting work is 69 per cent for E ward, with 28 roads yet to be started and nine standing partially complete. Meanwhile, the ward where the concreting is almost wrapped up is R Central Ward, with only one road marked partially completed and 181 completed.

Monsoon withdrawal

Scientist ‘E' from IMD, Sushma Nair, told mid-day, "Normally, the monsoon commences its withdrawal from Maharashtra in October, and the normal date of withdrawal over Mumbai is October 8."

Current status of total roadwork

The 17,000-crore road concreting project comes with respective deadlines: Roads under Phase 1 are to be completed by December 2026 and those under Phase 2 by May 2027. The details about the project have been made accessible to the public by the BMC on its ‘BMC Public Dashboard-Concretization of Roads (sic)'

The basic facts

The project: Concreting 2179
roads stretching 715.09 km
Roads completed: 80.7% (577 km)
Roads partially pending: 8.8% (63 km)
Roads where work is yet to start: 10.5% (75 km)

Official Speak

A senior civic official
‘Roadwork was halted on June 10, in view of the monsoon, and contractors were told that they would be resuming work in October. A reminder has been conveyed to them, so that they begin mobilisation, and roadwork can start between October 1 and 5. A few light showers on the withdrawal days doesn't pose any major issue'