News Detail

• Roads 50% thinner than the specification, shoddy materials and concrete mix of poor quality. These are some of the findings of the Swiss-based firm SGS, given a contract by the BMC to carry out a quality audit of roadworks in the city and its suburbs.Senior advocate Iqbal Chagla, and advocates Anirudh Joshi and Viraj Maniar, counsels for SGS, presented the findings in the form of an affidavit to the Bombay High Court on Friday. "Road contractors are taking the city for a ride," said advocate Chagla, pointing out that each contractor stood to lose Rs 10-15 crore if SGS continued with the audit.
• On Darga Road, Ghatkopar (West), the firm found that the contractor had excavated it by only 400 mm, whereas as per norms the depth should have been 930 mm.Regarding roads in Borivli, Kandivli, Dahisar, Ghatkopar, Andheri and Grant Road, the firm brought to the BMC's notice that contractors' work was in "gross violation" of civic policies. "The contractor (referring to a specific contractor) had started work without waiting for approval of the material or the (concrete) mix design," said the affidavit. A startling find was that in Kandivli, the thickness of a road laid by a contractor was 50% less than that in the original design. "Is it any wonder that roads are washed away during the monsoon?" asked Chagla.Similar faults were found with work on Kasturba Road and S S Road. The advocate alleged that the petition filed against the appointment of SGS (see the other story) was with the sole intention to stop scrutiny of shoddy roadworks.

Source