Only 559 of 936 road projects likely to meet May 31 deadline in Mumbai | Mumbai News

Mumbai: Of the 936 road concretisation projects currently underway across the city, only 559, or 59%, will be completed by the BMC’s May 31 deadline, civic data reveals. The remaining 377 projects will be paused and carried over to the post-monsoon period, as no roadwork is undertaken during the rains.Officials said contractors had been instructed to bring sites to a “safe stage” before the monsoon sets in.In areas like Perry Cross Road and Joggers Park in Bandra (West), frustrated residents confronted contractors on Thursday, saying they feared having to endure another round of digging and disruptions later this year. Many said they hoped the inconvenience, which began in Oct, would finally end before the rains begin.Sujata Kabraji from Perry Cross Road ALM 118 said, “Our once peaceful street turned into a nightmare since road concretisation works began in Oct 2024. With 24 buildings and bungalows, this was a happy neighbourhood. Now, we’re all frustrated, and civic engineers and contractors too aren’t realising the trouble we as locals are facing. We had people from our area trip and fall because of this work. There are no barricades, burst water pipes gush like fountains for days without repair, and gas and electricity lines are also getting damaged during the course of the work. To make matters worse, a portion of the newly laid concrete road cracked within a week.”Former Bandra corporator Asif Zakaria said that the condition of road repair works outside Joggers Park is also the same. “On Joggers Park Road at Carter Road, work also began in Oct 2024. This road is a major tourist spot of Mumbai, daily frequented by thousands of citizens, senior citizens and children. Daily complaints are being received that citizens have to walk, jog through mounds of dust and debris, which is not attended to for months. Furthermore, on the road is another serious concern about the misuse of public roads by these contractors. In clear violation of BMC norms and contract terms, the contractor set up site offices, labour camps, and material godowns directly on the road. This has caused additional hardship to local residents.”The ongoing road concretisation project will be completed only by May 2027, and authorities have said that the work is progressing as per schedule across both phases of the ongoing project. Phase One, which began in Feb 2023, is expected to be completed by Dec 2025. Phase Two, which started in Aug-Sept 2024, is scheduled to finish by May 2027.Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, when serving as the chief minister, directed BMC on July 23, 2022, to concretise all Mumbai roads in two years. Shinde said that this was an attempt towards making Mumbai roads pothole-free.