16 April,2025 05:34 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
It is part of BMC’s larger effort to make Mumbai roads pothole-free by speeding up high-quality cement concretisation across the city, the officials said. Representational Pic/File
A day after Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde along with BMC chief Bhushan Gagrani reviewed Mumbai road concretisation, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday began a crackdown on substandard works in city, the officials said.
They said that the Mumbai civic body has taken strict action against contractors and suppliers involved in substandard concrete road work.
It is part of BMC's larger effort to make Mumbai roads pothole-free by speeding up high-quality cement concretisation across the city, the officials said.
BMC chief Bhushan Gagrani has clearly stated that no negligence or poor-quality work will be tolerated, an official statement said.
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The contractors and agencies found guilty of delays or poor work will face heavy penalties and bans, it said.
The statement said that a contractor working in Aarey Colony faced serious delays and poor quality in roadwork. As a result, the contractor has been banned from participating in any BMC tender for the next 2 years and fined Rs 5 lakh.
It said that two ready-mix concrete (RMC) plants were found to have failed quality checks (slump test mismatches). Their registrations have been cancelled, and they are barred from supplying concrete for any BMC work for 6 months.
It further said that two road contractors were also fined Rs 20 lakh each for substandard work.
The officials said that strict micro-planning to complete all concrete road work by May 31, 2025.
They said that the deadlines for each road project has been fixed and instructions to have compulsory presence of engineers on site during construction has been given.
The Mumbai civic officials are also conducting surprise inspections during the ongoing works.
Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar has been actively inspecting ongoing work. On 20 March 2025, he visited a site in M-East ward and found a mismatch in slump test results - an important test to measure the quality of concrete. The concrete mix was rejected, and the RMC supplier fined Rs 20 lakh and blacklisted for 6 months.
On 1 April 2025, he visited another site on Jail Road in B ward, where again, poor quality concrete was detected. The slump test showed a massive difference between the RMC plant and the actual site. The responsible contractor was fined Rs 20 lakh, and the RMC plant was blacklisted for 6 months, it said.
The official statement said that the slump tests measure the workability of concrete - especially the ratio of water to cement. If there is too much water, the concrete becomes weak, affecting the durability and quality of the roads. The BMC has made it mandatory to conduct slump tests both at the RMC plant and at the construction site.
