Surprise inspection exposes poor workmanship on Khar Road; BMC slaps ₹75L fine
In a surprise inspection on April 7, additional municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar discovered that the dry lean concrete (DLC) base—meant to provide a strong foundation—was so poorly executed it could be crumbled by hand. The contractor initially claimed the concrete had been cured for the mandatory seven days, but later backtracked in response to a show-cause notice, admitting it had only been cured for three.
'This kind of softness should never be possible in cured concrete,' said Bangar. 'It indicated serious flaws in compaction and material quality.'
Other violations included the use of coarse aggregates of 60mm instead of the required 20mm, and uneven surfaces far beyond the permissible 2–5mm range. Critically, the mandatory Field Dry Density (FDD) test—which checks for proper compaction—had not been done, compromising the road's strength and lifespan.
Following an internal inquiry, the BMC fined the road contractor ₹50 lakh, penalised the quality monitoring agency (QMA) ₹25 lakh, and suspended the ward's sub-engineer. An assistant engineer received an official warning.
'Neither the contractor ensured quality, nor did the QMA catch these issues. Even the ward staff on-site missed them,' Bangar said. 'This was not malafide, but a result of ignorance and a casual attitude.'
Had the issue not been caught in time, the top layer—pavement quality concrete (PQC)—would have been laid over the faulty base, leading to premature deterioration.
The contractor has now been asked to redo the stretch entirely. Bangar emphasised that heavy penalties for even small stretches are intended to send a strong deterrent message. 'We can't inspect every road, but we can make examples out of the ones we catch,' he said.
The BMC is racing to meet a May 31 deadline for 400 km of road concretisation. Of the 700 roads taken up in Phase 1, 260 have been completed. In Phase 2, work has begun on 1,421 roads, with 56 done so far.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
2 days ago
- News18
Goregaon MTNL Flyover To Be Razed For Mumbai Coastal Road: How It Will Affect Your Daily Commute
Last Updated: Mumbai Coastal Road: How did Goregaon MTNL flyover become crucial east-west link within 7 years? How will the demolition impact Mumbai travellers and traffic? The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is all set to dismantle the Veer Savarkar flyover in Goregaon, just seven years after it was opened to traffic. The structure, built at a cost of Rs 27 crore, is set to make way for a key elevated connector as part of the Versova-Dahisar stretch of Coastal Road Phase 2, the TOI reported. The 460-500 meter Savarkar flyover, also known locally as the MTNL flyover, was inaugurated in August 2018 and serves as a crucial link for east-west traffic in the western suburbs. Stretching between Radisson Hotel and Rustomjee Ozone, the flyover significantly reduced traffic congestion in the region. It links S.V. Road near MTNL Junction to New Link Road, providing crucial connectivity to the Western Express Highway (WEH). The structure has three lanes. The construction began in 2015 and was completed in July 2018. What will come in its place? How will it link to coastal road? In its place, a two-tiered flyover has been proposed—its upper deck to act as the coastal road connector, and the lower deck to function as the reconfigured Savarkar flyover. A formal proposal is being prepared for approval from the municipal commissioner. The segment from Mindspace to Dindoshi is part of a larger infrastructure package designed to link western suburbs with the GMLR tunnels and beyond to the eastern suburbs. How will the demolition impact Mumbai travellers? The current flyover had cut commute times drastically and its absence, even temporarily, could impact thousands of daily commuters travelling to Malad, Madh, and Marve. A section of residents also fears that the demolition process and upcoming construction may result in prolonged bottlenecks and dust pollution. The Versova-Dahisar coastal road This segment, also known as the Versova–Dahisar Link Road (VDLR), is part of Phase 2 of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project, stretching approximately 22.9 km from Versova up to Dahisar. The route includes elevated roads, a cable-stayed bridge, underground tunnels, ramps, and interconnectors with the Goregaon–Mulund Link Road (GMLR). The total project cost is estimated at Rs 16,621 crore (rising up to Rs 32,000 crore including taxes and related infrastructure). With Agency Inputs First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Indian Express
30-07-2025
- Indian Express
Mumbai's Eastern Express Highway, T Junction to get respite from waterlogging as BMC plans pumping station with underground tank
To alleviate waterlogging in Mumbai's eastern suburbs and ensure smooth vehicle flow on the Eastern Express Highway, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to construct a mini-pumping station along with an underground holding tank at Mankhurd, officials said. 'Whenever there is heavy rain, the pumps will be able to channel out the water through stormwater drains or into the holding tank. This will reduce the accumulated water from the public spots, and vehicle movement will continue uninterrupted in these locations,' a BMC official said. According to civic officials, the new pumping station will be constructed near the cross-subway at Mankhurd. The station will have three pumps with a capacity to pump out 3,000 cubic metres of water in an hour. The 25×15 feet underground tank will be able to hold around 1-2 lakh litres of water. The official said that areas like Maharashtra Nagar and the T junction would get a much-needed respite. Once the pumping station gets operational, waterlogging will not affect vehicular movement on the Sion-Panvel highway during monsoons, the official added. 'During rain, vehicular movement becomes severely affected on the highway due to waterlogging, and Mankhurd becomes a chokepoint. Once the pumping station becomes operational, this problem will be addressed to a large extent,' the official said. According to BMC officials, the cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 15 crore, and the construction will take six months, with the facility expected to be ready before the next monsoon. This will be the second such pumping station in Mumbai. In 2021, civic authorities sanctioned a similar project in the Parel area, where a pumping station was built at the Hindmata junction and a holding tank underneath the St Xavier's College grounds. Since the facility became operational, waterlogging has significantly reduced in the low-lying areas of Gandhi Market and Hindmata.
Indian Express
27-07-2025
- Indian Express
Potholes beat concretisation in Mumbai: 49% of concretisation project complete but potholes rise by 8% over last year
Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) achieved 49 per cent completion in its Rs 17,000 crore mega road concretisation drive to make the city pothole free, the potholes not only continue to riddle Mumbai's streets but the total number of potholes and thereby their complaints have, in fact, witnessed an 8 percent rise this year, in comparison to the same period last year. According to officials, this year, 6,758 potholes have been recorded in Mumbai from June until July 18. However, in 2024, 6,231 pothole complaints had been recorded across the city during the same period. Besides this, data shared by BMC shows that between June and mid-July (July 15), while the city had recorded 4,983 potholes in 2024 since June, the number of potholes jumped to 5,138 this year, during the same period. The surge in pothole woes has emerged despite BMC having achieved nearly half its (49 percent) target of the mega road concretisation project, which was launched in 2022 to make Mumbai's roads 'pothole-free'. With monsoon activity gathering pace in June, potholes surface on city roads in what slows down traffic and exposes motorists and pedestrians to potential accidents. In a bid to proactively identify pothole-plagued roads, the civic body also deploys its own engineers to carry out daily inspections across city wards while citizens can also register pothole-related complaints through social media, the civic disaster management number as well as the 'My Pothole Quick Fix' application. According to data furnished by civic officials, this year, at least 6,758 potholes have been identified across Mumbai's roads since June until July 18. Of the total complaints, 3,461 complaints had been flagged through channels like the pothole fixit app, social media, etc, whereas 3,297 were identified by the BMC's own body of engineers. Of the total sports reported, the BMC had resolved and patched as many as 6,213 pits along bad roads until July 18. The ambitious Rs. 17,000 crore project seeks to concretise 700-km of roads across the city, with 320 km (700 roads) pegged to be concretised in phase I and 378 km (1421 roads) proposed to be paved in concrete in phase II. Mumbai has a road network of 2,050 km, of which 1,333 km roads are already concretised. It is the remaining 700-km asphalt and paver block roads that the civic body has taken up for concretisation in a mega drive, with the objective of enhancing connectivity and eliminating potholes. Until the concretisation project work was stalled in May, owing to monsoon onset in June, the BMC said that it already achieved 63 percent of the target in the first phase with 101.67 km of roads (or 343 roads) completely concretised and 101.68 km partially completed. Meanwhile, in the second phase, 36 percent of the target has been achieved until May 31 with 84.33 km of road length concretised in entirety. By contrast, last year until May 31, the civic body had achieved only 26 percent of the concretisation works in phase I while the work on the second phase commenced only in December 2024. However, despite the near doubling in concretised roads in Mumbai (from 26% in May 2025 to 49% this year), the number of potholes have continued to rise in the same period. In 2024, 6,231 pothole complaints had been recorded across Mumbai between June and July 17, of which 6,051 potholes had been fixed by the BMC until that period. 'These are pothole complaints which are recorded by our engineers through inspections, social media and telephone complaints. These potholes are being filled within 24-48 hours. In many cases, when there is heavy rainfall, filling of potholes couldn't be done regularly and we have to wait till rainfall stops,' a civic official had told The Indian Express earlier. When contacted, Abhijit Bangar, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) BMC said, 'While the city had recorded 5,138 potholes till July 15 this year as against 4,983 potholes in 2024 (same period), the quantity of mastic consumed to fill up potholes has seen a sharp decline over the last one year.' The BMC uses mastic to fix the potholes during the monsoon season and an average of 8 – 10 mastic cookers (machines) are deployed across the city daily. According to officials, in 2024, while 25,632 metric tonnes (MT) of mastic was consumed to repair potholes as well as carry out preventative maintenance ahead of monsoon, only 6,548 MT of mastic has been used so far, this year. As per records, until mid-July last year, the city's K/West ward (Andheri) recorded the highest pothole related complaints at 473, followed by G/North (Dadar, Mahim) ward at 217 complaints and P/North (Malad) ward wherein 172 reports emerged. Meanwhile, the maximum complaints were recorded along the Western Express Highway (WEH) and the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), which recorded 2,019 and 1,286 pothole related grievances respectively. Incidentally, this year too, the maximum number of pothole complaints by citizens have been flagged in the K/West ward, encompassing Andheri West, wherein at least 488 citizen complaints have been flagged until Saturday. Meanwhile, records from the pothole grievances live dashboard show that the second highest number of pothole complaints were reported in the areS ward (Bhandup) wherein 453 pothole complaints had been resolved and 235 complaints currently being resolved, until Saturday. Insiders say that ideally, with the rise in concretisation of roads, the overall pothole numbers should reduce. Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior official from BMC said, 'Ideally, as the number of concretised roads increase, the number of potholes should also reduce. At present, most potholes have been reported along roads which are not concretised.' He further said, 'The potholes on these roads are being addressed using mastic asphalt, with no usage of cold mix. For this purpose, we deploy mastic cookers daily and a certain amount of mastic is being laid overnight. However, what we have observed is that despite the number of potholes, the quantity of mastic used is much lower than what had been used last year in the same period. This is an indication of the fact that the potholes are smaller and their severity is much less.' According to the official, along with the reduced usage of mastic, the number of average mastic cookers deployed has also seen a dip. 'While the highest number of mastic cookers deployed in a single day in 2024 stood at 33, so far, the highest number of cookers used in one day stands at 24. Our focus is on proactively identifying these potholes and repairing them at the earliest to prevent them from becoming enlarged and a safety concern,' said the civic officer. This year, the BMC has pressed one road engineer in each of its 227 wards who have been tasked with daily inspections within a 10 – 15 km radius as well as resolving pothole complaints within a period of 24 – 48 hours. For the asphalt and paver-block roads which are yet to be concretised, the civic body has also allocated Rs. 154 crore for repairing potholes.
