BMC had set a target to complete the concretisation of 324 km of roads in the eastern and western suburbs within 240 days, from October 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025. So far, only 30% of the work had been completed since its commencement in January 2023. Civic authorities have instructed road engineers to prepare detailed lists of roads requiring concretisation in their respective areas and to develop monthly schedules to keep the project on track.
During a review meeting on the road concretisation project, Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijeet Bangar stated that constructing cement concrete roads typically takes between 30 to 45 days, from excavation to completion and resuming traffic. He noted that sub-engineers and assistant engineers had been tasked with creating lists of roads for the first and second phases of concretisation in their areas and that they must devise detailed monthly schedules, follow up regularly, and prioritise road development tasks.
Bangar acknowledged the challenges faced by the project, particularly in obtaining no-objection certificates from the traffic police and relocating various underground utilities. He stressed the importance of effective coordination between the BMC and different underground utility services to ensure the timely completion of roadworks. Additionally, it was mentioned that the BMC would be signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) the following week, under which IIT-B would oversee and ensure high standards and quality in the cement concretisation work.
