Residents of Mumbai's Chandivali area are facing renewed frustration as a recently concretised road has been dug up again, just months after its completion. The move has sparked anger over what locals call a wasteful cycle of construction and destruction by the civic authorities.
Road Re-Digging Sparks Public Outcry
The stretch of road connecting Nahar Amritshakti to Sangarsh Nagar in Chandivali, which endured years in a dilapidated state before being concretised, is now being excavated. Approximately 200 metres of the newly laid surface has been dug up, severely narrowing the passage for vehicles and leaving only one side accessible for motorists.
This development comes shortly after the road was built by Summer Developers, a private company, and handed over to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Residents, who had patiently waited for the initial concretisation, have taken to social media to express their fury at the apparent lack of planning.
Civic Explanations and Resident Backlash
When questioned, BMC road department officials stated that the road has been taken up again as part of a mega cement concrete road project. An official explained that the crucial work of laying sewerage and water pipelines was omitted during the initial construction. "There's no sewerage and water pipelines laid on the road which is important. This road was already proposed under the cement concretisation project and therefore works on it have begun," the official said.
However, this justification has done little to placate the local community. The Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA) voiced its anger in a post on X (formerly Twitter), sarcastically congratulating the BMC. The post highlighted the inefficiency: "Congratulations @mybmc! After spending ‘years' to finally complete the concrete road... they've realised they forgot something vital… and are now digging the newly built road. BMC strategy: Build–Dig–Build. Efficient use of public money and time!"
Calls for Accountability and Inspection
Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder of CCWA, who visited the site, pointed out multiple lapses. He questioned why the BMC accepted the road from the developer, Summer Developers, who received additional FSI (Floor Space Index) for its construction, without ensuring all civic requirements were met. "The developer got additional FSI for making this road, then why wasn't the civic staff inspecting when the road work was being carried out?" Makkar asked.
He further argued that the BMC should not have taken possession until the work was fully complete as per its own specifications. Makkar emphasised the daily inconvenience and waste of resources, stating it is "frustrating for residents like us who use this road on a daily basis."
In a significant admission, Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar, who oversees the civic roads department, agreed that breaking up a freshly laid road is pointless. He confirmed, "I have already instructed the road department to check on why this road was taken up for concretisation again if it had been recently concretised as it amounts to waste of resources."
The incident has reignited debates about coordination between private developers and the BMC, as well as the perennial issue of infrastructural planning and execution in Mumbai, which often leads to public inconvenience and financial waste.
