Mumbai, Sept 5: Soon after the monsoon season comes to an end by October, the reconstruction and resurfacing work on 1343 roads in Mumbai will begin, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said. An official of the civil body informed that the tendering process for 624 works for 202.31-km roads has already begun while the work on remaining 719 works for roads measuring 305.08-km would start in the subsequent stage. He further informed that the work will be carried out in phases, starting this October.

“These works will begin after monsoon gets over,” the official said. The official informed that the tendering process for 62 new road works that need urgent attention is already underway and these works will be awarded next month.

According to a report by PTI, of these 62 roads, 15 roads are located each in the island city and eastern suburbs while rest are in western suburbs. The official said a new mechanism is being finalised to ensure that quality is maintained. “We have taken a slew of measures to fix the accountability on the contractors. We will ensure that there would be no irregularities. The vigilance department of the civic body will also play its role,” he said.

The report further quoted the official saying that there will be a Defect Liability Period for three years. It must be noted that a defect liability period is a set period of time after a construction project has been completed during which a contractor has the right to return to the site to remedy defects. The assurance comes against the backdrop of a road repair scam that had come to light in 2015 surfacing of potholes. Many people had died in various parts of the city and extended suburbs in accidents caused by pockmarked roads.

According to a PTI report, a total of 180 engineers were indicted in the two-phase enquiry conducted by the civic body and six of them were dismissed from the service earlier this year. The civic body has set a budget of Rs 1,508 crore for the entire resurfacing and reconstruction works. The official informed that the BMC had completed the works on 552-km roads during October 1, 2016 to May 2018.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 05, 2018 09:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).