Will start murrum work at Aarey after monsoon: Mumbai civic body

Pic/Anurag Ahire

In the wake of a mid-day report highlighting how vehicles were getting stuck in the mud along either side of the cement concrete (CC) main road in Aarey Milk Colony, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has stated that it will ask the contractor to replace the mud with murrum soil or powdered rock.

A BMC officer said murrum would be filled along the road's edges while stone pitching would be installed at the sloping portion.

"As most of the concreting work is now complete, we will start with the murrum work after the monsoon. Till then, level differences between the road and side portion will be temporarily filled with site material. We have done murrum work on a few stretches. Since we have had a dry spell, we will ask the contractor to remove the temporary filling and replace the same with murrum," said a BMC officer.

On August 13, this newspaper reported about how concerns surrounding the main road of Aarey Milk Colony were not being addressed. Residents were calling for murrum soil to be used on either side of the road to prevent further incidents.

In the past, there have been several instances where vehicles and two-wheelers have got stuck in the wet sticky mud on either side of the main CC road in Aarey Milk Colony.

The Aarey main road also does not have footpaths on either side because of which the chances of pedestrians meeting with accidents are high. As there are no speed breakers on this road, motorists tend to drive at a very high speed.

The BMC began the concreting of Aarey colony's main road from Goregaon junction to L&T junction in Powai in 2022, with a completion target of 2025. The 4-km section from the Western Express Highway has already been finished. The total budget for the 7.2-km-long road is Rs 51.6 crore.

Every morning and during peak hours, the main Aarey Milk Colony stretch from the VIP guest house junction towards Powai sees traffic jams. Every year, during the monsoon the condition of the road from the VIP guest house junction up to the picnic point junction is ridden with potholes and daily commuters feel that the need of the hour is to convert this road into a cement concrete one.