Mumbai GMLR Project: The Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) construction site on Film City Road poses a serious danger to human lives. The absence of basic
safety measures at the active construction site puts both passersby and on-site workers at significant risk. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Priti Satam raised the matter at a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) standing committee meeting and pressed the committee with a pointed question - should an accident occur at the site under these conditions, what action would BMC take against the contractor and the officials responsible? Satam pointed out several worrying problems at the site. The large girders that workers have erected have no safety measures around them whatsoever. Workers and contractors have dumped debris at multiple locations across the site, leaving the area in a disorganised and hazardous state. Open ditches filled with stagnant water sit without proper barricading around them, putting both passers-by and on-site workers at serious risk of injury - and the standing water itself poses a health hazard. On top of all this, the contractor has not deployed any anti-pollution misting units to control dust, and there is no traffic warden present to manage the movement of vehicles and pedestrians near the site. Also Read: Unseen City: How Iran, Strait of Hormuz Laid the Ground for Mumbai's Tower of Silence
Contractor Already Penalised for Other Issues
Civic officials responded by noting that BMC has already imposed a total penalty of Rs 3 crore on the contractor to date. This includes a Rs 50 lakh fine that BMC slapped on the contractor in March for delays in constructing the flyover between Dindoshi Court and Dadasaheb Film City, which forms part of the broader GMLR project.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar assured the committee that BMC would treat all safety-related issues with the seriousness they deserve and would take the necessary action. He also confirmed that officials would look into and address the other concerns that Satam had raised.
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GMLR Progress So Far
The GMLR project is planned across four phases. Phase 3 (A) covers the construction of a flyover and an elevated rotary. Work is currently underway on a nearly 1.3-kilometre flyover stretching between Dindoshi and Goregaon, and BMC expects to open it to traffic by May 31.
The episode has once again drawn public attention to the need for stricter oversight of infrastructure projects in the city, where safety standards at construction sites are often found wanting.
