Guardian Minister Ashish Shelar sets May 31 deadline for Mumbai suburban roadworks

Ashish Shelar. File pic

In a concerted push to tackle delays and public inconvenience caused by ongoing roadworks, Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister, Advocate Ashish Shelar, has set a deadline of May 31 for the completion of all ongoing works across suburban Mumbai. The minister undertook site inspections across several locations and subsequently issued a slew of directives aimed at fast-tracking progress and ensuring accountability.

While reviewing the state of the roadworks in the H-West Ward, which includes Bandra West, Khar West and Santacruz West, Shelar convened a high-level meeting with Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar as well as Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, and senior officials from key departments and utility agencies. Attendees included representatives from the Hydraulic Department, Storm Water Drain (SWD) Department, Adani Electricity, and other civic and utility service providers.

During the meeting, Shelar closely examined the current pace of development and pressed for an urgent, coordinated strategy to complete the 74 ongoing roadworks in the H-West Ward. He stressed the importance of a streamlined execution process and called for a time-bound action plan to be charted out immediately.

Among the key directives issued by the minister were the following:

• No new roadworks are to be initiated until 31 May, unless existing ones are fully completed.
• Priority must be given to major arterial roads near Bandra Gymkhana, Khar Gymkhana, Madhu Park, Daulat Nagar, and Guru Nanak Garden, all of which must be completed by the 31 May deadline.
• Commissioners were instructed to conduct regular ward-level meetings with utility providers, including Mahanagar Gas, to ensure better coordination and address bottlenecks.
• A comprehensive road-wise utility damage report must be compiled.
• A detailed status report is to be prepared, mapping the timeline for completion, quality checks, specific challenges faced by utility agencies, and the measures being implemented to resolve them.
• Recognising that similar challenges are being faced across other parts of the suburbs, Shelar directed that similar action plans and timeline charts be drawn up for other suburban regions to ensure a uniform and timely completion of works.
• The Additional Municipal Commissioner assured the minister of full cooperation and prompt implementation of the action plan.

Acknowledging the growing public frustration over the condition of roads and the disruption caused by seemingly uncoordinated works, Minister Shelar addressed citizens directly and said, "We are aware about the inconvenience caused to Mumbaikars due to this uncoordinated and unplanned initiation of development works. But we seek citizens' patience and cooperation as we are actively working with the administration to ensure that good quality roads are delivered within the committed timeframe."