The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is finalising a new trenching policy post monsoon to eliminate the repeated digging of concreted roads. Of the 2050 km of roads in Mumbai, 1224 km of roads have been concreted by BMC before 2023 — the year it undertook its Rs 17,000 crore project for concreting an additional 700 km of roads.
All new road work projects part of this 700 km road network already have ducts underneath the road surface that eliminate the need to dig them up for laying new cables. Agencies simply have to open the duct lids to access or lay new utilities, according to the BMC.
What is planned
All roads that were constructed before 2023 don’t have the same facilities of dedicated underground ducts for utilities, a BMC official said.
>> To tackle this, any agency seeking permission from the civic body to lay or repair utilities must facilitate laying of a duct underneath the road; if the agency cannot construct the duct, BMC will carry out duct-laying work at the same time as the repair of the existing utility
>> BMC will tie up with all utility agencies for one year, fixing the responsibility of digging and repairing a road within that timeframe on the corresponding agency, in case of an issue with laying or repairing utilities
Road works in Mumbai
>> Mumbai has a total of 2050 km of roads
>> Of this, 1224 km was concreted before 2023
>> In 2023, BMC undertook a `17,000 crore project for concreting 700 km
>> Of the 700 km road network, 521 km has been concreted
>> Effectively, 1745 km of roads out of the 2050 km road network have been concreted
Why this is important
The issue recently hit the spotlight due to repeated power cuts in Mumbai. The BEST Undertaking — BMC’s subsidiary that supplies power to the city — has attributed the cuts to a delay in permissions from the civic body to dig up concreted roads to repair or lay new utility cables.
Currently, overlapping underground cable networks lead to prolonged construction delays and frequent utility disruptions during roadworks. To resolve this, BMC is integrating utility tunnels, cross-ducts, and side box drains into all new cement concrete roads.
Meanwhile, a new policy is being finalised for all roads concreted before 2023, to provide seamless, non-invasive access to 32-34 utility types, including internet, gas, and power lines, enabling easy repair and installation without damage to the road surface.
Mumbai’s underground utilities
There are at least 32 utility agencies in Mumbai that require digging up roads for repair or installation of their cables. These include telecommunications lines, internet cables, gas, water, sewage, and electricity lines.
Rs 17K cr
Amount BMC is spending on concreting 700 km of roads
