Mumbai: Contractors outwit BMC once again, dig up roads despite civic chief’s orders

“During his visits, Mehta observed that despite work orders having been issued in October, right after the monsoon, work had not progressed adequately and was continuing at a snail’s pace at the end of January. Sensing that these would remain incomplete even when the monsoon arrives, he ordered that much of lengthy works be curtailed,” said a senior official. In other words, the commissioner ordered that instead of building a footpath, drains and various sub-strata or crust layers on these project roads, the department should only undertake a quick resurfacing, technically called milling and carpeting, in order to get the roads ready in time for the Mumbai monsoon.

The cost of a road work package thus curtailed to a simple resurfacing job would dip by 50 per cent or more.

Having hauled up the roads department for the slow pace of work on these project roads, Mehta issued clear directions in February, ordering that long-delayed road works be reduced wherever possible to resurfacing contracts. “It is after contractors realised that their project costs would reduce by 50 per cent that fresh trenching was undertaken, to show that stretches had been already dug up, fairly deep, and resurfacing work would now not suffice. It appears that roads department officials turned a blind eye to this,” added the official.

Senior officials said following the commissioner’s orders, they proposed that 250 to 300 project roads out of over 500 be only resurfaced. The roads department objected, and officials finally agreed to consider curtailing road works on 131 project roads. Around 200 roads were to be taken up only after the monsoon.

In March, observing that the roads department had paid little heed to his previous direction to not undertake lengthy road works ahead of the monsoon, Mehta issued fresh directives that only resurfacing should be carried out on these 131 roads, with the final decision resting with the zonal deputy municipal commissioners.

But even as feedback was being sought from the assistant municipal commissioners of every ward, roads department officials maintained that 250 to 300 roads would definitely require exhaustive repair works including drains, thus indirectly favouring the contractors.

“Besides the fear of the project cost being cut by half, the commissioner also suggested terminating contracts for project roads and inviting fresh tenders for resurfacing only. This prompted contractors to hasten the excavations even though there is no hope of even bringing these stretches to a reasonable safe stage before the monsoon,” said a senior official.

For example, right outside a municipal office along Swami Vivekanand Road in Bandra West, a 150-metre stretch of road had been excavated for repairs in October 2016 and work crawling along till February. Barely a couple of weeks after the commissioner’s order, a 1.5 km-stretch was dug up — and remains more or less in that condition since.

Officials are still calculating how many kilometres of road were unilaterally dug up by contractors.

Senior officials admit that these trenched roads, some dug up as recently as in mid-April, will not be completed before the monsoon, leading to aggravated traffic pile-ups and inconvenience to harried citizens.

“It was surprising to see the digging work fast-tracked suddenly on SV Road. We were taken aback with the pace as few metres of the road was dug up till January. The contractors always carry out work at a slow pace. The inconvenience to citizens should be taken into account,” said Anil Joseph, an activist and resident of Bandra (West).