Mumbai: BMC will soon introduce a revised policy to incentivise agencies undertaking road trenching to restore excavated stretches. The policy will also make it mandatory for an agency to lay utility ducts if a trench extends beyond 50m.At present, BMC restores dug up roads. Under the proposed policy, the agency carrying out the trenching will be allowed to undertake the restoration work, while the civic body will reduce and rationalise the reinstatement charges it levies. However, if the agency refuses to do, BMC will take up the work after levying the relevant charges.Civic officials said frequent trenching is one of the major reasons for roads’ poor condition. They said once utility ducts are installed beneath all roads, the need for trenching is expected to reduce. “We have not been able to find a solution to the problem of continuous trenching because there are utilities beneath our roads. Roads are dug up to carry out work related to these utilities and, as a result, they never complete their defect liability period. When a road is dug up, it becomes vulnerable to potholes,” said an official.The official said laying down ducts could reduce trenching of roads by 70-80% but acknowledged that not all utilities can be accommodated in them.According to BMC, less than 50% of the existing roads have utility ducts. Even several roads concretised earlier do not have ducts. BMC wants to eventually ensure that all roads have ducts.“Currently, there are complexities in our trenching policy and we intend to remove them. By asking the agency undertaking the trenching to carry out the reinstatement as per our specifications, we will also ensure that there are no delays, as currently, one agency carries out the trenching while another undertakes the reinstatement. Henceforth, whenever trenching permissions are granted, we will insist that agencies lay a duct if the trenching work exceeds a particular threshold,” said another official.
