Mumbai: Days before monsoon, 30%-roads still in need of repairs
What's the story
This monsoon doesn't bode well for Mumbai. On one hand, experts have predicted that it will hit three days early, but BMC is yet to finish repairs on 30% of roads.
Primary concerns are clogged drains, broken manholes and potholes.
Each monsoon season has been delayed in Mumbai in recent years, but this time, the city is already being impounded by pre-monsoon showers.
Problems
Work started in October, still far from completion
This year, BMC had taken up repairs on 1,878 roads, out of which 584 will just be temporarily covered up till monsoon-end.
Due to monsoon lashings, the temporary filler tends to get eroded and the roads incur a lot of damage, thus increasing BMC's workload manifold.
Notably, work on roads started as early as October, but still BMC couldn't meet the May 31 deadline.
No planning
Traveling from Kalaghoda till Colaba a nightmare already, say residents
In South Mumbai, due to dug-up roads and ongoing metro work, traveling from Kalaghoda till Colaba is already a nightmare.
Some residents said BMC shouldn't have undertaken such workload without proper planning.
"The situation is particularly challenging for pedestrians as footpaths have often been the casualty of projects," said Colaba resident Subhash Motwani.
Another big monsoon headache, potholes, continue to make life difficult.
New mixture
BMC had planned a 'superior' pothole-filling mix for this year
For this year, BMC had decided to start manufacturing its 'superior' patented pothole-filling mix from May, rather than importing it from Austria and Israel, thus saving expenses.
The new mixture was touted to be a reliable cure for potholes, since it has bitumen, known for its adhesive qualities, as the main bonding agent.
However, its plans seem to have failed.
Failure
What went wrong with the new mixture?
According to plans, an initial 2,500 metric tonnes of the mix was to be tested by mid-June, which is a bad move anyway, given that monsoon hits Mumbai latest by June 20, if delays are considered.
Moreover, contractors generally don't follow proper procedure while applying the filling, which is why potholes keep making a comeback at the same place.
Past events
Saturday's pre-monsoon showers brought relief from humidity, but claimed three-lives
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region experienced its first shower of the season on Saturday evening.
Though they brought much-needed relief from humidity, three people died of electrocution.
Traffic, local trains and flight services were severely hit.
According to IMD, tall clouds were formed due to excessive heating of land in the past few days, which led to the showers.