FPJ Impact: BMC's Coastal Road Department Orders L&T To Fill Hazardous Rainwater-Filled Trench At Breach Candy

Mumbai: The Coastal Road department of the BMC has ordered L&T, the private contractor, to fill up the huge pit behind the Tata Garden at Breach Candy, which was dug up two years ago for constructing an underground parking.

The Free Press Journal had reported in its May 28 edition that the pit has become a health hazard as it is filled with rainwater, and the stagnant water has become a mosquito breeding spot.

“We have given the work order to L&T on May 29 to fill in the trench immediately. The work should start by Saturday, and the contractor is told to fill up to the high-tide level at first so there will be no waterlogging in the pit. The compacting can be done in the next stage. The entire work, i.e, including the levelling, will take a month,” M M Swami, chief engineer (Coastal Road), told the FPJ.

However, the refilling of the 6000 sq m wide and 9 feet deep pit will be done using public funds. “We had gone up to the foundation level for the underground parking. Thus, refilling will be costly. The contractor is yet to submit the estimates; however, it will be in crores. The BMC will have to pay the contractor, which ultimately is public money,” an official said.

The BMC had planned a two-storeyed underground parking behind Tata Garden near Amarsons junction, accommodating 246 vehicles. The construction work had also begun, but it was shelved after the Breach Candy residents voiced concerns over the traffic congestion that would come if the underground parking was built in the area.