Residents of Road No. 14, TPS 3, in Bandra West are once again coping with construction-related disruption, just months after the stretch was concreted. The road, rebuilt between December 2024 and May 2025, is being dug up anew to correct the misalignment of stormwater drains, triggering traffic snarls, access problems and renewed flooding concerns.
Locals say they had flagged the flawed drain alignment during last year’s work but received no resolution. Now, with excavation underway again, daily routines have been upended.
Jacob D’Souza (name changed) said, “Last year, we informed the workers about the misalignment, but were told it could not be fixed. There was no major waterlogging, so we let it go. This year, without any prior notice, the drains were dug up again. We only found out after asking the workers.”
He added, “We leave for work in the morning and return to traffic chaos in the evening. The drain work started two to three days ago. We are glad the mistake is being corrected, but why were our earlier complaints ignored?”
Raising concerns about monsoon preparedness, D’Souza further said: “Water has stagnated in all three drains, including sewage and storm water drains, likely due to construction debris. Our building has faced flooding during heavy monsoon rains before. If this is not cleared, we could face the same situation again.”
A member of the Advanced Locality Management group, requesting anonymity, pointed to missing pedestrian infrastructure. “Under the 2016 Pedestrian First policy and the 2023 Universal Footpath policy, footpaths are part of the transport system. But most of this road has no footpaths. We were told they would be built after the road work. That has not happened.”
The road improvement project, overseen by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, is being executed by contractor NCC Ltd. and is scheduled for completion by March 31, 2026. Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said lapses were identified during execution, and both the contractor and the Quality Monitoring Agency were penalised. The ongoing rectification and remaining works are being undertaken at no additional cost to the civic body.
Source: Mid-day
