Mumbai: Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani has issued a stern warning to civic officials, emphasizing that no new permissions will be granted for any work on roads that have been concretized. To prevent unnecessary and repeated digging, he has directed various civic departments and utility services to coordinate closely with the road department.
Additionally, he instructed that strict action be taken against malls, restaurants, and commercial complexes that misuse parking areas for commercial purposes instead of adhering to their approved construction plans.
Gagrani conducted a review meeting of all the 24 administrative wards in BMC headquarters on Monday. The meeting was attended by additional commissioners Dr. Bipin Sharma, Dr. Ashiwini Joshi, Dr. Amit Saini, and Abhijit Bangar, along with all deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners from the 24 civic wards.
During the meeting, Gagrani stated, "The concretisation of roads is progressing alongside the work on utility services. For this, coordination among the hydraulic engineering department, sewage department, electricity companies, internet providers, and telecommunications companies is essential. Once a road is concretised, no digging or excavation will be permitted on those roads. No approvals for road excavation will be granted under any pressure."
He has directed officials from the road department to be present in the field and maintain vigilant oversight of the road concretisation process. The concretisation of roads, which was halted during the monsoon, will resume by this week.
Phase 1 of the project encompasses 394 kilometers, while Phase II aims to concretise an additional 309 kilometers across the city and its suburbs. Although only 30% of the road work has been completed in the past year, the civic body has set an ambitious target to finish the Phase 1 concretisation in the eastern and western suburbs by May 31, 2025.
Inspection of parking lots..
Commercial establishments such as shopping malls, restaurants, and business complexes have obtained BMC's approval by presenting parking arrangements when applying for building permits. However, in some cases, designated parking areas are being misused for commercial purposes.
Taking this matter seriously, Gagrani has instructed the city engineer and all assistant commissioners to conduct joint site inspections and take immediate and stringent action against illegal parking and vehicles obstructing traffic on roads, with the assistance of traffic police.
