Experts slam BMC over rough surface of Mrinaltai Gore flyover arm

The newly opened arm of the Mrinaltai Gore flyover in Goregaon has come under scrutiny after motorists raised concerns over the quality of its road surface pointing to patches and uneven stretches at several locations The BMC however has maintained that there has been no compromise on the flyoverrsquos structural safety stability or overall qualityTo understand the possible reasons behind the condition of the road surface and assess the civic bodys claims midday spoke to Indian Road Congress member Giresh Arekar independent civil engineer Biju Augustin and transport expert Jagdeep Desai who considered the civic bodyrsquos claims and examined pictures of the road to point out that it appeared road was opened in a hurryWhen this reporter examined the flyover uneven patches could be seen on its surface at multiple locations Tyre marks were also noticed which may have been caused by vehicles passing over the carriagewayPolitical stormSeveral politicians including Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray and Congressrsquos Mumbai North Central MP Varsha Gaikwad have criticised the BMC over the quality of the flyover arm NCPSP National Spokesperson Anish Gawande had also written a letter to Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide and Mayor Ritu Tawde demanding the disclosure of surfacequality test dataBMCrsquos clarificationsAfter motorists and politicians started raising questions over the quality of the road the BMC on Sunday issued a statement claiming that visible joints on the Mrinaltai Gore flyover extension were part of the technical construction processThe BMCrsquos bridges department in a statement had said that it had taken note of observations and comments made by citizens elected representatives and various stakeholders on social media regarding the apparent unevenness and patchlike appearance of portions of the road surface and that a 40 mm thick mastic asphalt wearing course mdash a durable waterproof top layer mdash had been provided on the bridge carriagewayldquoIt is the nature of mastic asphalt that it looks patchy and rough immediately after laying especially where itrsquos done manually However as more and more vehicles ply on the road the surface starts getting even and tidyrdquo the statement readVoicesGirish Jaysing Arekar council member Indian Road CongresslsquoA brandnew road surface showing patchiness and prominent tyre indentations within just 2448 hours of opening points directly to execution flaws rather than standard lsquosettlingrsquo The work appears to have been done in a massive rush and the final road layer does not look uniform at all In road engineering such immediate deterioration usually stems from three critical factors substandard bitumen quality failure to maintain uniform thickness or rushing to open the bridge before the mastic asphalt has had its mandatory curing and cooling time An independent thirdparty engineer must conduct an immediate physical inspection to audit the raw material quality and verify the structural integrity of the topping layer jointsrsquoJagdeep Desai architect academician and founderchairman of the Forum for Improving Quality of Life in MumbailsquoThe BMCrsquos explanation lacks credibility when glaring physical defects are staring us right in the face We have no way of verifying if they actually followed engineering specifications or due process Claiming that the bridge is structurally safe is just a classic diversion tactic to shift focus away from what is clearly a shoddy surface job Like almost every civic project in Mumbai this appears to have been left to unsupervised lowpaid daily labourers hired by a lowestbid contractor We saw the same script with the Coastal Roadrsquos leaks and cracks the same lsquoteething problemsrsquo excuse the same lsquoit will settle with usersquo narrative It is the same old lame excusersquoBiju Augustine independent civil engineerlsquoThe videos and pictures of the newly opened extension tell a clear story of shoddy workmanship The heavy patchiness and uneven surface make it obvious that the final layers were slapped together in a massive rush Now that furious motorists have exposed the poor state of the road the BMC is simply scrambling to save face with convenient clarifications Mumbairsquos taxpayers deserve real accountability the civic bodyrsquos excuses cannot be accepted blindly We need an immediate independent inspection and a thorough thirdparty auditrsquoFlyover extension factsLength of arm750MCost of projectRs 248 crDay it was inauguratedJune 6 2026June 7Day flyover extension was opened to motorists