Mumbai’s recurring monsoon pothole crisis may finally see a long-term solution as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched an extensive resurfacing and repair drive on key flyovers along the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) and the Western Express Highway (WEH). The decision comes directly after orders from Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who reviewed the condition of MSRDC-maintained structures and asked the BMC to intervene urgently.
This year’s monsoon saw an unusual level of public frustration, particularly directed at pothole-ridden MSRDC flyovers where the road surface had deteriorated significantly. Even though these bridges do not fall under the BMC’s formal maintenance responsibility, the civic body had to step in during the rains to fill dangerous craters and make the roads temporarily motorable. However, after weeks of patches failing to hold on the heavily trafficked structures, it became clear that large-scale resurfacing was unavoidable.
The new resurfacing program is the BMC’s most substantial intervention on MSRDC-maintained assets in recent years. The corporation has allocated ₹62.50 crore for mastic-asphalt resurfacing on EEH bridges and ₹73.80 crore for comprehensive repairs on WEH bridges, bringing the total expenditure to nearly ₹136 crore. Officials confirmed that the scope of work will go far beyond filling potholes and will instead focus on restoring long-term road durability. This includes crack sealing, complete removal of damaged asphalt, fresh lane markings, footpath repairs, storm-water drain alignment, chamber-level corrections, and other structural fixes meant to improve water flow and reduce monsoon erosion.
Tenders for the project were officially invited on Thursday. The work zones include critical connectors such as the Ghatkopar, Mankhurd, Vikhroli, and Thane-bound flyovers on the Eastern Express Highway. These stretches handle enormous daily traffic loads and are often the first to show signs of distress during and after the monsoon. Civic engineers explained that mastic asphalt, while suitable for high-load structures, can degrade quickly if not periodically resurfaced. Heavy vehicles, continuous braking, and storm-water stagnation accelerate its wear, causing uneven surfaces that later break into potholes.
According to a senior BMC official, the intervention became necessary because MSRDC had not carried out full resurfacing on several of these bridges for years, allowing the surface to age beyond safe limits. The official explained that although MSRDC is responsible for maintaining its structures, BMC decided to take up the work “on its behalf” to prevent the recurrence of potholes during the next monsoon season. The official added that for BMC’s own flyovers, resurfacing is done within the defect-liability period or scheduled as per routine maintenance cycles. In the case of MSRDC flyovers, the absence of such systematic resurfacing created the risk of repeated failures.
The civic administration expects that once the resurfacing is completed, commuters will experience smoother rides and fewer disruptions caused by sudden closures or emergency repairs. The decision also reflects a broader shift in Mumbai’s infrastructure approach, where overlapping authorities have often resulted in unclear responsibilities and delayed repairs. With BMC stepping in proactively, the expectation is that essential travel corridors like EEH and WEH will be in far better shape when the next monsoon arrives.
While resurfacing alone cannot eliminate all road issues in a city with such extreme traffic volumes and monsoon intensity, this intervention marks a significant step toward improving safety and commuter experience. Whether this will finally bring sustained relief from Mumbai’s chronic pothole problem will depend on the quality of execution and regular maintenance, but for now, the project signals a much-needed attempt to address the issue at its root rather than through temporary fixes.