BJP demands inquiry into ‘shoddy’ work on Marine Drive

Patel, who raised a point of order during the standing committee meeting on Monday, argued that the quality of the road was not as per the expected standards. “The appropriate amount of digging has been done and the coating is of poor quality. The shoddy work is a likely result of delayed work since the traffic permissions did not come in on time, but this is not an excuse since the civic body should have been better prepared,” he said.

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He added that the technology used for the resurfacing work on the road is costing the BMC around Rs 110 crore. “Even after spending such a large quantity of money, the quality of the surface of the road is very poor especially in comparison to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. There should be an inquiry and measures should be taken to ensure satisfactory results of the work,” said Patel.

Every year, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and his son Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray take tours to oversee the ongoing road work across the city, including the road work being carried out on Marine Drive for the last two years. Civic observers pointed out that the BJP’s move is being seen as another attempt to corner Shiv Sena in the civic body.

Earlier, the BJP targeted the Shiv Sena over the desilting scam, the dumping ground issue and accused Sena of running a mafia in the civic body. Recently, Shiv Sena was also blamed for the road-repair scam but they tried to control the damage by demanding an action against civic officials and contractors involved in it.