MUMBAI: Residents of Perry Cross Street, Bandra, aren’t inspired by Brihanmumbai Municipal Company’s (BMC) promise that every one street works of their neighbourhood can be accomplished by Could 31, as they’ve been beleaguered with challenges of navigating a nasty thoroughfare for over six months. Having reached their threshold of endurance, they dashed off a letter to extra municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar, on Thursday, expressing their woes.
Mumbai, India, Could 08, 2025: BMC is digging Perry Cross Street to restore the Bandra space, Mumbai. Mumbai, India. Could 08, 2025. (Photograph by Raju Shinde/ HT Photograph) (Hindustan Instances)
“Work on our 250-meter road has been on at a snail’s pace since October 2024,” stated Sujata Kabraji, a member of ALM 118 that represents 24 buildings and bungalows alongside the street. “We have been consistently monitoring the work, meeting the contractor and BMC officials every week, pleading with them to fast-track it, but apart from verbal promises, nothing has materialised. They promised to complete the task by March, but we doubt if they will be able to meet the May 31 deadline,” she stated.
On this period, residents have been sidestepping excavated parts of the 250-meter street, and confronted allied issues corresponding to repeated cuts to their electrical energy, fuel and wifi connections, low and contaminated water provide, blocked entrances to their buildings, and autos getting broken because of the lack of barricades, and many others.
And if that weren’t sufficient, a large three-meter crack has surfaced in entrance of an under-construction constructing, Ambar. When HT visited the location on Thursday, as this portion of the street was being mounted, the contractor and employee put the blame on its situation on heavy autos getting into the constructing being constructed earlier than the curing was full.
One other member of the ALM, Marukh Vazifdar stated, “The road in front of my building, Peridot, was done last week, after being dug up repeatedly over months, first for storm water drains, and then for a water line and other utilities. After concrete was laid over one night, one side of the road was barely cured for a day. (The optimal time given for a road to be cured is seven days.) The squares made to hold water to allow curing are missing along half the length of the road. Only pieces of cloth have been laid, and now even a car is parked on it. The road is unlikely to last long.”
Laila Dashti, a resident of Kalpak Gullistan, recalled an identical sequence of occasions in entrance of her constructing, the place a newly constructed street was cured just for a day, after which opened to autos.
“The water we’ve been receiving is of a poor quality. A test done by an external agency showed that it is non-potable with the presence of e.Coli bacteria. BMC refuted the claim, but has not come back with test results to prove otherwise,” she stated, including, “Due to the lack of barricades, an elderly gentleman fell and fractured his hipbone in February.”
Asif Zakaria, former corporator of the realm, stated: “The contractor, AIC Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, employed a sub-contractor MB Infra, who has consistently been either shoddy or has delayed the work. Residents have been meeting him every week. Parts of the road work that will remain incomplete when monsoons hit will be a nightmare to navigate.”
Whereas senior BMC officers have been unaware of the problems on the street, an assistant engineer overlooking the work, blamed the delays on utilities that wanted to be mounted. “We started with work on storm water drains, which we had to halt due to pending work on the water line, which took at least two months. We will ensure the road is in a motorable condition before the monsoon,” he stated.
Likewise, a employee from MB Infra who was on-site, blamed the delay on the utilities. “We waited for the water pipeline for two months; additionally, many buildings had to get gas pipeline connections which took a while, which was followed by an electricity cable work. We started work on storm water drains since October, but we’ve only been able to get down to it fully from the last week of March.”
When requested if work can be accomplished by Could 31, he stated, “The portions that have been dug up will be done by then, but the other half which remains undone on certain stretches will only be possible after October. We’ll patch up the portion between the concrete road and part that isn’t done.”