Each year, Mumbaikars are inconvenienced by over 500 km of roads in the city being dug up by various utility agencies for laying of cables and pipes, and often, the same stretch of road is dug up multiple times by different agencies.
To cut down on the chances of trenching being carried out on the same road on multiple occasions, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has now introduced an online system of granting permissions to utility agencies, so that all agencies can be alerted about the time-frame within which digging works will be carried out on a particular road.
This will enable multiple utility agencies to carry out their work at the same time, and possibly cut down on their costs as well.
Once the civic body grants permission to a utility agency for trenching on a road, the online system will immediately flag the proposed work period and send out e-mail notifications to other utility agencies to enable them to seize the same window for laying utilities.
"Repeated road digging works for utilities create traffic issues as well as wastage of resources," said a senior official from the BMC's Roads Department. The official clarified that it will, as of now, not be mandatory for these agencies to lay utilities at the same place at the same time. However, better coordination will lessen the chance of repeated digging works.
The Roads Department of the BMC held a meeting with senior officials of all utilities agencies on September 20, informing them about the new system.
There are around 36 utility agencies in the city, such as gas companies, mobile and internet service providers and BEST, who dig up roads and footpaths to lay cables and pipes. The BMC receives around 6,000 applications for road trenching from all these 36 agencies, and for granting permission, the civic body earns annual revenue of around Rs 700 to Rs 800 crore.
"There is possibility that the revenue from these agencies for allowing road digging work will come down. But, the move will certainly bring respite from repeated digging work and inconvenience caused to residents and motorists," said a senior official from the BMC's Roads department. He added that the civic body is often criticised for granting permission for road digging multiple times at the same place within a small period.
In 2015, the civic body had asked even utility agencies to submit a "master plan" of all the trenching works to be undertaken by them a year in advance. There was also provision of a 5 per cent penalty in cases of non-compliance. However, that did not prove a solution to the problem. "Since we cannot deny to give permission to utility agencies, we have to look for other ways," said the official.
Round-the-clock
There are around 36 utility agencies in the city, such as gas companies, mobile and internet service providers and BEST, who dig up roads and footpaths to lay cables and pipes.
According to official estimates, over 500 km of roads are dug every year by utility agencies. However, due to poor or no coordination among these agencies, roads are dug up at the same place several times in a year.
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