Now, get civic body's permission for digging roads online

Mumbai: To prevent indiscriminate digging of roads for laying of underground utilities, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has gone online over its trench- permission work. All trenching works are uploaded online to ensure that they are carried out simultaneously. According to civic officials, the ‘Trenching Permit Service’ has been made available online to all the utility agencies operating in the business of electricity cables, gas lines and fibre optic cables.

All utilities have been given login-Id and password of municipal portal. Utility agencies can apply online through portal for trenching permit. “Trenching works is one of the biggest problems BMC faces in the city. Out of 2,000-km of roads, trenching is carried out on nearly 500-km of the roads. It means nearly 25 per cent of roads are occupied with trenching works,” said a senior civic official.

BMC chief Ajoy Mehta said, “Trenching works are essential and hence we cannot say no to them. But to curb constant digging of roads, we have decided to upload all trenching works online. So whenever one agency applies for any trenching work, the trenching permit service will inform other agencies too about it. They will be informed that a particular agency will be given trenching permission at a certain period and they can also apply for it. This will ensure digging works for various utilities are carried out at the same time.” “We are also planning to offer concession in trenching fee if utilities apply for it together. But fees will be more if separate permission is sought,” he added.

According to the BMC’s trenching guidelines, a dug-up footpath or road is to be restored to its original condition within seven days after the trenching activity is over. However, contractors often do a shoddy job leaving behind uneven roads and pavements inconveniencing pedestrians.