Even though the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation was all set to start construction work of roads after monsoons, it has been difficult to get permission from the traffic police as half of the roads are already dug due to the ongoing Metro work.
Every year, BMC halts construction of roadways in monsoon. This year too, construction work was on on the 315-kilometre-long network of 719 roads, before monsoons. Even the tender process was complete for the 202.31-kilometre-long network of 624 roads which was supposed to start from the first week of October. But even after a month, BMC officials have not been able to start work on these patches due to the ongoing Metro work.
The BMC officials are aware that starting work without an alternative for traffic will lead to chaos. “The city is surrounded by sea and we couldn’t expand the road network. This has resulted in only a few options for transport, if we start work on a particular road. But after all, it is for better roads,” a BMC official said. However, the city's traffic police is not ready to give permission for all roads at the same time as half of the city roads are already dug up for construction of Metro.
The BMC had allocated Rs 1,500 crore for road construction this year. BMC had planned construction on a total stretch of 507 kilometre and had the tender procedure in place for a 202-kilometre-long network of 624 roads. Out of these 624 roads, reconstruction and resurfacing of a 46-kilometre-long network of 199 roads will be in the Island city, while a 47-kilometre-long network of 155 roads will be in the eastern suburbs and a 108-kilometre-long network of 270 roads in the western suburbs. In addition to that, work on the 315-kilometre-long network of 719 roads, which was put on hold during monsoons, has been in the waiting list of the traffic department.
The BMC completed the repair of a 552-kilometre-long network of roads between October 2016 and May 2018.
IT'S A LONG WAIT
BMC is awaiting permits from the traffic dept. It is aware that starting work without an alternative will lead to chaos on city roads
