BMC has proposed to spend Rs 1,600 crore for concretisation of service roads, slip roads, and junctions of both Eastern Express Highway (EEH) and Western Express Highway (WEH).
In a tender notice published on Sept 23, BMC said that the contract period for the work would be 24 months excluding monsoons. The scope of work includes civil works, concretisation works, construction of storm water drains, ducts, footpaths, and allied works.
“The contractor is expected to maintain the project road in traffic-worthy conditions/motorable by using asphalt mixes during monsoon after notification of award of works and till completion of contract period or completion of entire work whichever is later.
The trenches excavated by various utilities including BMC’s departments on Eastern Express Highway, during the contract period shall be reinstated by the contractor of the said work, as per existing policy guidelines and relevant specifications and as directed by the engineer including intervening monsoon,” states the tender document.
RTI activist Anil Galgali criticised the move, stating that service roads are not meant for heavy vehicles and therefore do not require concretisation.
“If they are properly asphalted and maintained, service roads can last just as long. These roads are frequently dug up for trenching work, and once concretised, it will be harder to do so repeatedly without compromising the road’s quality,” said Galgali.This year, a tender was floated before monsoon for repair of bad patches on both WEH and EEH during monsoons. While EEH spans across 20km of road length, WEH is spread across 35km. They are two of the busiest traffic stretches, especially during peak hours in the morning and evenings.
In Nov 2022, MMRDA handed over EEH and WEH to BMC. Since then, BMC has taken over repairs of the road, beautification, and also full-fledged cleaning.
