Metro work delays road repairs

Mumbai: As Diwali is over, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is poised to undertake reconstruction and resurfacing of majority of the roads in the city. While the civic body was expected to start this work right after the monsoon, the delay has been caused by various ongoing Metro works across the city.

According to civic officials, the BMC has undertaken reconstruction and resurfacing on 1,343 roads of 507-km length from October this year. The work would be carried out in phases.

“The work for 202.31 km stretch of roads has already begun, whereas work on the remaining 305.08 km stretch of roads is yet to begin. Of them, majority of the work was held up due to delay in getting traffic permission. Hence, we have decided to start the work after Diwali. The work includes both projects as well as priority roads,” said a senior civic official.

According to him, the delay has been caused by Metro work in the city. “For the Metro work, the main corridor of these roads has been blocked, whereas the permission for arterial roads has been given in phases. Even though roads have been barricaded for Metro work, the traffic movement is heavy due to which work is delayed,” he added.

The official said a new mechanism is being finalised to ensure that quality is maintained. “We have taken a slew of measures to fix the accountability of the contractors. We will ensure that there will be no irregularities. The vigilance department of the civic body will also play its role,” he said.

There will be a defect liability period for three years, he said. A defect liability period is a set period of time after a construction project has been completed, during which a contractor should carry out the maintenance of the road and remedy its defects.