Mumbai, Nov. 6 -- At a time when Mumbai is grappling with deteriorating air quality, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has initiated the tender process for the third phase of its road concretisation project. The civic body plans to upgrade 311 km of roads across the city at an estimated cost of Rs.8,614.56 crore, even as work under the first two phases continues. "The tenders were invited on Wednesday. The civic body plans to commence work in January 2027, with seven tenders proposed to cover roads in the island city, eastern suburbs and western suburbs," said an official from BMC's roads department. The third phase of the project will involve a series of road improvement works, including strengthening and upgrading existing roads, repairing damaged cement-concrete (CC) road panels, improving roadside strips and junctions, and repairing cement-concrete passages and mastic asphalt roads. According to the BMC, the objective is to provide motorists with durable, pothole-free roads and reduce the recurring need for road repairs. The inclusion of road junctions and side strips is significant as these sections require regular maintenance and are often affected by wear and tear, said the official quoted earlier. The proposed improvements are expected to address such stretches alongside main carriageways. The preparations for the third phase come even as work under the first two phases remains underway, with roads still dug up in several parts of the city. Phase 1 is scheduled for completion by December 12, while phase 2 is expected to be completed by May 2027. The deadline for phase 3 has not been declared yet. Together, the three phases cover 2,179 roads spanning 715 km. According to BMC figures, work on 1,589 roads has been completed, while 316 have been partially completed. Work on the remaining roads has not yet begun. The first two phases together involve an expenditure of approximately Rs.17,000 crore. With another Rs.8,614.56 crore proposed for the third phase, the total estimated outlay across the three phases will exceed Rs.25,600 crore. The initiation of the third phase comes at a time when Mumbai's air quality has started dipping as winter approaches. Two weeks ago, the Bombay High Court referred to the haze over the city as an "emergency situation", asking state authorities what they were doing to tackle it. A study commissioned by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and conducted by CSIR-NEERI and IIT Bombay in 2023 found that resuspended road and wind-blown dust accounted for 30% of the city's PM10 pollution. In February 2025, the BMC had decided against taking up additional roads for concretisation until existing stretches were completed, citing the need to address pollution caused by ongoing works. The BMC says the concretisation programme is aimed at improving road durability and reducing the city's reliance on repeated pothole repairs, particularly during the monsoon....