Citizens force BMC to redo Bandra road

Mumbai: In a classic example of how people’s unity can do wonders, a few citizens of Bandra compelled the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) rebuild the entire stretch of St Andrews Road, which, they allege, was reinstated shoddily by the contractor.

The poor condition of the famous road, which goes from Bandra's Hill road to St Dominic road, was brought to fore by actor Farhan Akhtar who wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, “I suspect the contractor that paved St Andrews road in Bandra has used a seesaw instead of a leveller. #zeropointsforquality.”

As a part of improvement of city roads, the BMC has undertaken the reinstatement of St Andrews Road, which involves removal of paver blocks and laying an asphalt road. However, locals have alleged that the contractor is carrying out shoddy work.

Raising the issue in the civic standing committee, local Congress corporator Asif Zakeria said, “From the beginning only, it was clearly seen that the contractor is not carrying out his job properly.”

Irked with poor quality works, members of the Saint Andrew’s Residents association also wrote to the BMC commissioner demanding that road work should be done again.

Acting on their demand, the BMC has penalised the contractor and ordered him to repair the roads by May 31. “We have slapped a penalty of Rs 50,000 on the contractor,” said a civic official.

“The repair works have begun from Wednesday and are expected to continue for couple of days. We are keeping a watch on the works,” said Mr Zakeria.