Ashish Shelar Directs BMC to Enable Citizens to Report Utility Damage During Roadworks

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Mumbai: Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar has instructed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to allow citizens to directly report damages to utility lines caused during ongoing roadworks. The directive mandates the addition of a complaint-upload feature on the BMC’s digital dashboard, enabling residents to raise concerns promptly and ensure timely resolution.

On Wednesday, Shelar held a review meeting on Mumbai’s road concretisation projects, attended by Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijeet Bangar and senior officials from the BMC’s Roads and Bridges Department.

Speaking at the meeting, Shelar emphasised the need for balancing infrastructure development with civic engagement.

“Given the growing need for better roads, it is equally important to address the traffic disruptions caused during ongoing construction. To bring transparency and ensure public participation, the BMC has launched a dedicated dashboard on September 4. Citizens should be able to directly upload complaints related to roads in their respective areas on the public dashboard,” he said.

He further directed that the dashboard include a detailed analysis of any utility damage, such as water, electricity, or sewer lines, caused during roadworks, with responsible contractors penalised. Trench restoration contractors must complete repairs within 15 days to prevent long-term civic issues.

For upcoming projects, the system will allow citizens to report utility damages via the dashboard, with a resolution report shared directly with the complainant. Shelar also stressed that detailed mapping and coordination of ongoing utility works must be ensured before approving new roadworks to avoid future disruptions.

Currently, out of a total 698.73 km across 2,121 roads planned for concretisation, the BMC has initiated work on 186 km across 771 roads in the first phase and 208.70 km across 776 roads in the second phase. This includes 360 roads in the island city, 216 roads covering 64.06 km in the western suburbs, and 200 roads spanning 52.33 km in the eastern suburbs.

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