Officials float project tenders hours before Model Code of Conduct kick in; the project tenders were floated hours before the election code of conduct set in for Mumbai on Monday afternoon, when the State Election Commission announced the BMC elections for January 15
Uneven, raised patches mar a road. FILE PIC/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Bumpy rides along the two main arterial roads that connect South Mumbai to North Mumbai — till Bhandup in the East, and Dahisar in the West — could soon be a thing of the past. After facing flak throughout the monsoon season for pothole-riddled roads along the Eastern and Western Express Highway, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has now planned a Rs 130 crore project to fix the road surface along bad patches on both the highways. The project tenders were floated hours before the election code of conduct set in for Mumbai on Monday afternoon, when the State Election Commission announced the BMC elections for January 15.
What project involves
As part of the project, the BMC will undertake “micro-surfacing” of both these roads. This will include milling of the worn-out portions, improvement of long-damaged stretches, and raising or lowering of chamber covers for manhole lids. Other minor works, such as installation of road signage, crossings, and improvement of footpaths, will also be undertaken.
The project also involves maintenance of the roads during the monsoon season of 2026, with ongoing or periodic repair of the roads as required, for a period of five years. In November, mid-day reported about the BMC’s plan to carry out milling on road surfaces on the Eastern Express highway to reduce bumpy rides. Milling is a process that scrapes the top layer of bumps to provide temporary relief, before resurfacing of the road is done.
The defect liability period (period where contractors are responsible for maintaining the roads) had expired in 2023, the same year that MMDRA handed the roads over to the BMC, according to information from the civic body. Since then, BMC has been maintaining the roads. Each year, tenders have been floated for the maintenance of small patches of the roads. Similar tenders will be floated during the next year for separate patches, and tenders were floated last year as well, according to the BMC.
A senior civic official told mid-day, “Due to the length and breadth of both the highways, it is impossible to complete the resurfacing of roads in one go. Periodic tenders need to be floated for the work. These tenders cover a 7.9 km patch on the Eastern Express Highway — between Amar Mahal and Chunabhatti — and a 7.5 km patch on the Western Express Highway — between Goregaon and Magathane bridge in Borivli.”
Importance of work
During the monsoon, the BMC repaired potholes on roads using mastic asphalt — a material known to swell after drying, which can create raised patches. These patches caused bumpy rides on the highways after the monsoon. mid-day, in a November 17 report, highlighted the situation on the Eastern Express Highway, due to patchy and uneven road surfaces around Sion.
The Eastern Express Highway is a 23-km-long stretch connecting Sion to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, running up to Thane. It is a crucial north-south connector leading to the eastern suburbs of Vikhroli, Ghatkopar, Mulund, and Bhandup. The Western Express Highway is a 25-km stretch that connects Mahim to Dahisar, and is a crucial north-south connector for the suburban areas of Andheri, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Borivli, Kandivli, and Malad.
Citizen Speak
Nikhil Desai, A representative from NGO AGNI, which works for the welfare of Mumbai
‘If BMC can do the concreting of internal roads, it can definitely do so with these main roads. However, annually, repairs are taken up, and these roads are resurfaced at a huge cost, only for potholes and bad patches to reemerge during the subsequent monsoon season. To date, we have not seen a full-fledged plan for a permanent solution to the problem of bad patches on either of the two
highways.’
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