AdminMumbai’s congested streets just got a new headache. A concrete stretch in Chandivali, completed last month, is being torn up again in a move that has locals, commuters and civic officials reeling. The city’s “Build–Dig–Build” strategy has come under fire, amplifying already chronic traffic snarls and sparking a fresh round of worker‑public conflict. This latest scandal has turned Mumbai road construction delays into a burning issue for residents, businesses and even international students scrambling to navigate the city.
Background and Context
Scattering across Greater Mumbai, a cascade of infrastructure projects has struggled to keep pace with soaring population growth. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was supposed to have a robust roadmap, yet the city’s traffic snarls have not improved in recent years. Over the last decade, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC) has signed contracts with several private developers to bring highways and arterial roads up to code. However, a recurring theme has emerged: finished roads repeatedly require rework, causing repeated disruptions.
Chandivali’s recent drama is the latest example in a pattern that has vexed commuters for years. In 2019, a six‑lane arterial from Nahar Amritshakti to Sangarsh Nagar languished under a patchy surface that forced drivers to brace against potholes. In 2023, a private developer, Summer Developers, laid new concrete, promising a smoother route for the suburb’s growing bus routes and private vehicles. The project was handed over to the BMC in March 2025, just as the new road opened to the public. Yet weeks after its inauguration, work crews are once again excavating a 200‑metre stretch, alleging infrastructure defects and missing utilities.
In effect, Mumbai road construction delays are no longer a distant narrative; they are the very thing that uncoils day‑to‑day life for thousands of citizens.
Key Developments
1. The “Build–Dig–Build” Controversy
When a new concrete stretch is uncapped by subsequent excavation, the fight is not about tension alone – it is about how public funds are being directed. “The BMC strategy: Build–Dig–Build,” quipped a resident on X, highlighting the perception that municipal funds are being squandered in a cycle of re‑construction. The situation escalated when Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar publicly acknowledged that re‑digging of the Chandivali road “counts as waste of resources,” and vowed to probe whether the re‑excavation was truly warranted.
The BMC claims that the new tunnelling was necessary to lay out critical sewerage and water pipelines that had been omitted in the original contractor’s design. “There’s no sewerage and water pipelines laid on the road which is important. This road was already proposed under the cement concretisation project and therefore works on it have begun,” said a BMC road department official.
2. A Call for Transparency
The Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA) took to social media to demand that the city provide a transparent report explaining why an almost brand‑new road had to be dug back up. CCWA’s founder, Mandeep Singh Makkar, pointed out that Summer Developers had received a higher Floor‑Space Index (FSI) to build the road and, as such, the BMC should have monitored the construction throughout. “First, the condition of the road isn’t good, which shows there was a lack of supervision. Second, BMC shouldn’t have taken back the road until the work was completed,” he added.
3. Infrastructure Cost Overruns
According to the cost ledger, a 200‑metre re‑digging project is projected to exceed ₹12 crore (approximately $1.5 million). This loss of public money adds to the mounting payroll of road‑maintenance workers, which has already reached ₹3 crore per annum across the city due to increased downtime on construction sites.
4. Legal Loopholes?
The BMC is preparing a clarifying memo under the Municipal Corporation Act, Identity No. MCM-2025-0423. While it has denied that policy lapses are to blame, it recognizes that the “Build–Dig–Build” practice may be subjected to scrutiny under Haryana’s Urban Development Code, specifically sections governing “Public Works Impossibility and Reversal.”
Impact Analysis
The recurrent road construction delays hit a wide demographic. For daily commuters, each month of disruption translates into an estimated ₹12,000 of lost productivity in Mumbai alone, according to a local study published by the Institute of Transport Studies. These delays ripple further into the city’s African diaspora; thousands of international students travel to Mumbai for internships, yet the constant traffic snarls make commuting from suburbs like Kandivali, Rohini and Chandivali more strenuous.
University of Mumbai research indicates a 15% reduction in student attendance in the months following a major road disruption. “When students time their commutes wrongly, they miss classes and even fall behind in group projects,” notes Dr. Hema Rao, a lecturer at the Department of Urban Planning. She further warns that students not only face logistical hassles but also risk safety in an environment where unplanned fenders and potholes create a dangerous road space.
Beyond academia, workers in small enterprises and artisans who rely on supply chains are affected. A 200‑metre closed pass in Chandivali had temporarily cut off transport for the marketplace on the same stretch, increasing fuel costs by 5% in a single week.
From a city‑wide planning perspective, the delays exacerbate the persistent problem of traffic congestion. Data from the Mumbai Traffic Management Board (MTMB) shows that average commute speeds dropped from 22 km/h to 18 km/h during the last week of the dig—a 23% decline, with economic implications amounting to an estimated ₹5 billion loss across 30 days.
Expert Insights and Practical Tips
Urban infrastructure specialists emphasize three main points to mitigate such disruptions:
- Utilise “Smart Construction” Methodologies: Modern sensors and Building Information Modeling (BIM) can help pinpoint needed utility placements before excavation, thus preventing multi‑stage work.
- Engage Community Stakeholders Early: Early involvement of residents, vendors and educational institutions ensures community input into timelines and mitigation measures.
- Coordinate Mutually Inclusive Scheduling: Align construction hours with peak traffic data. For instance, schedule heavy works outside 7‑9 am and 4‑7 pm windows observed at the BMC.
For international students caught between exam deadlines and transit delays:
- Use campus transportation services that can provide alternate routes or shuttle buses during construction periods.
- Keep your travel plans flexible—use Navigation apps with real‑time traffic updates to find lesser‑used roads.
- Engage student unions or local NGOs that lobby for better construction planning; they can provide advocacy without involving legal action.
Looking Ahead
The BMC’s response to the Chandivali fraud has already prompted the release of a draft policy titled “Periodical Road Verification Protocol” to be issued in March 2026. The draft proposes a mandatory 12‑month post‑completion audit for all new roads, requiring third‑party engineers to certify structural integrity before handing over to municipal authorities.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Road Safety and Development Department has earmarked ₹18 crore for an extensive “Public Awareness on Road Construction” campaign. Key components include monthly community briefings, digital dashboards on construction timelines, and an interactive portal that allows residents to upload photographs of ongoing construction sites.
Critics caution that unless enforced, the draft policy may fail to address deeper systemic issues such as lack of capacity in the BMC’s technical units and insufficient inter‑agency coordination. Nonetheless, the policy marks a step toward addressing recurring Mumbai road construction delays and promoting a warmer relationship between workers and public stakeholders.
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