BJP, Oppn MLAs slam BMC over quality of road concretisation in Mumbai

Mumbai, Mar 21 (PTI) MLAs from both the ruling BJP and Opposition on Friday slammed the BMC over the poor quality of ongoing road concretisation in Mumbai, with Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar calling a meeting in his chamber next week over the issue.

Atul Bhatkhalkar, a BJP MLA from Mumbai, raised the issue in the assembly during Question Hour.

During the previous Mahayuti government, then chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis launched the cement concretisation drive to make roads in the city pothole-free, but the civic machinery did not do anything to implement it properly, he said.

Speaker Rahul Narwekar said the government should consider if an inquiry, similar to past inquiries into road scams in the city, was necessary.

A contract for concretisation was given two years ago in his own assembly constituency of Colaba, but work never started, he said. "It has been six months after a fresh tendering, but still work has not started," the Speaker added.

Fadnavis and Shinde came up with the concretisation project to provide relief to Mumbaikars, "but there are a lot of complaints about the quality of work and delays," he said.

Congress MLA Amin Patel said a committee of legislators from Mumbai should be formed to discuss the issue.

Industries Minister Uday Samant in his reply said he would convey the members' concerns to deputy Chief Minister Shinde who heads the Urban Development department.

Narwekar said he will call a meeting on Monday in his chamber to discuss the issue with Shinde. "Before the meeting, it should be explored whether an inquiry by an SIT of the (Mumbai police's) Economic Offences Wing is needed in the ongoing cement concretisation, on the lines of the inquiry conducted when the previous Mumbai road scam reports came," the Speaker added.

Amin Patel said the vigilance department should conduct an inquiry and submit a report within a month.

Minister Samant admitted that show-cause notices were issued to as many as 91 engineers of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the poor quality of concretisation.

The Rs 6,632 crore project has been awarded to four contractors, he informed.

The BJP's Ameet Satam, a local MLA, said despite spending Rs 21,000 crore on roads every year since 1997, Mumbai roads have potholes. Concretisation began in October 2023 and is still going on, he noted.

Yogesh Sagar, another BJP MLA from Mumbai, said no one in the BMC was answerable to anybody, and officials act with impunity. Relatives of contractors who work in the BMC draft tenders, he alleged.

Notably, elections to the BMC, the country's richest civic body, have not been held for three years. It is currently headed by an administrator appointed by the state government. PTI MR KRK

Source: PTI