With the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) having trimmed its budget down by around 32 per cent for the financial year 2017-18, the budget estimates for road repairs or constructions has also fallen sharply by 62 per cent from the budget for the previous fiscal. However, civic officials say that the reduction will not have an adverse impact on major road reform projects, as a significant portion of funds earmarked for such works in previous years used to remain unspent. 

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In 2016-17, Rs 2,886 crore was allocated for road repairs or constructions. However, in the financial year 2017-18, the civic body has proposed only Rs 1,095 crore for such work. Poor execution of road repair works last year is believed to be a major reason for the budget being cut down on. The BMC has made a provision of Rs 3,555 crore for various road-related works during financial year 2017-18.

The corporation has proposed Rs 1,000 crore for the ambitious Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP), while Rs 130 crore has been set aside for the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project. It has also allocated Rs 1,095 crore for road repairs or construction works during the year. Apart from this, the civic body has also proposed Rs 1,030 crore for new roads under the city’s proposed development plan (DP) 2014-2034.

The civic body plans to complete the coastal road project in four years and the updated estimated cost of the project is Rs 15,000 crore. Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta said that the request for qualification (RFQ) of MCRP has already been published for shortlisting bidders for the 9.98-km southern part of MCRP, and by the end of this month, the process of shortlisting the bidders will be completed. The total length of the coastal road is 29.2 km.

According to Mehta, funds have been allocated to departments as per their capacity to execute works, and officials will be held responsible for not using the funds allocated. 

The BMC has stressed on transparency and proposed a number of reforms in the roads department. “In order to make the existing bidding process more transparent, fair and competitive, the pre-qualification criteria for the bidders have been modified on the lines of the other government departments. The entire process continues to be online for all works,” Mehta said.

In order to bring down costs to match the proposed budget, the civic body will adopt a new approach for road works. It will complete works in the minimal possible time to prevent wasteful expenditure. “We will avoid reconstruction of roads where they can be improved by milling and resurfacing the upper crust of the road. By doing this, we can bring down reconstruction costs from Rs 3,500- Rs 4,500 per sq m to Rs 1,370-Rs 2,800 for asphalt and mastic,” said Mehta.

Some salient features

Mumbai Coastal Road Project — Rs 1,000 crGoregaon Mulund Link Road — Rs 130 crRoads and traffic department — Rs 1,095 crNew Roads (DP 2034) — Rs 160 crUse of paver blocks shall be avoidedProposed revised policy for removal of bottlenecks for widening of existing roadsPedestrian-first footpath policy: Safe passage for pedestrians and parking on footpaths to be prohibitedBeautification of central median and traffic islandsInternational standard street signage system to be installed at 90 locations by March 2018Energy conservation: conversion of traditional streetlights to LED streetlightsUnderground parking slot proposed in Patwardhan Park in Khar (estimated budget, Rs 1 cr)

Other highlights

Rs 4 crore Beautification of Bandra Fort and Bandra TalaoRs 1.2 croreBeti Bachao Beti PadhaoRs 1 crorefor underground parking at Patwardhan Garden in Bandra (w) and MadanpuraRs 1 croreWorking women’s hostelThe BMC has explored alternative revenue sources to generate additional income, such as levying professional tax (which is being levied by the state govt at present) and introducing a surcharge of 1% of the value of immovable property, which will generate revenue of Rs 3,000 crore, and property tax on slums, which will generate revenue of Rs 250 crore.