Authority works — BMC Mumbai
BMC Mumbai GPR Survey for MCGM Roads, Mains and Trenches
Ward-by-ward radar mapping of Mumbai's mains, sewers and cable routes, timed so your trench file is ready inside the dry-season digging window.
Quick AnswerBefore a Mumbai street is broken open, a BMC Mumbai GPR survey pins down the cables, hydraulic mains, gas pipes and ducts beneath it. Radar runs, locator tracing and lifted covers feed one ward-labelled plan of positions and depths. Book it before the monsoon, when the city grants no trench permissions. Pipe-only jobs are covered under underground pipeline detection at a glance.
What does a BMC Mumbai GPR survey involve?
On a ground penetrating radar survey inside BMC limits, our engineers walk your alignment and confirm each service a trench, bore or road job would meet. A radar cart pushes brief pulses of high frequency electromagnetic waves through the slab, and each pipe, duct or void sends back reflected signals that the operator reads on screen. A locator follows live cables and metallic pipes, and opened chambers give taped depths to check both.
The corporation's legal name is the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), and its powers come from the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act of 1888. Its area is divided into lettered administrative wards grouped into zones, and some large wards have been split in recent years. Our sheets carry the ward letter beside each chainage. How radar and locators each work is set out in underground utility detection methods explained.
Why does the monsoon decide when Mumbai streets can be dug?
The corporation grants trenching permissions only in the non-monsoon months, so a survey finished late can cost a contractor the whole season. Much of the city is also being concretised. Since 2023, the BMC has barred digging on a new concrete road in its first year unless the work is urgent. (Sources: Free Press Journal, 26 May 2026; Free Press Journal, 27 May 2023.)
Restoration terms are changing too. As of May 2026, BMC-appointed contractors refilled most trenches and the digging agency repaid the cost. A proposed policy, not yet final, would make agencies restore roads themselves (Source: Free Press Journal, 26 May 2026). Check the current terms with the ward, and map the services while the permission file is prepared.
Which services are likely under a Mumbai street?
Expect five or six separate networks of pipes and cables, each with its own owner, often packed into the top metre below the slab.
| Service under the slab | Owner to approach | Recorded on our plan |
|---|---|---|
| Hydraulic mains and house connections | BMC hydraulic engineering | Line, depth of cover, sluice-valve chambers |
| Sewers and SWD (storm-water drain) lines | BMC | Route, invert at each opened manhole, diameter where seen |
| Electricity cables | BEST across the island city, private licensees in the suburbs | Run of each cable, road crossings, joint pits |
| City gas pipes | Mahanagar Gas | Pipe route, marker posts, depth where it crosses the carriageway |
| Fibre and telecom ducts | Each operator separately | Duct groups, manholes, any empty ducts found |
Table note: if your corridor runs into a metro or flyover site under the metropolitan authority, see MMRDA utility survey for your site.
How do reclaimed land and salty ground affect the radar?
Both cut the radar's reach, so on these streets a single pass is never treated as the final word. The island city stands largely on reclaimed land that joined the original seven islands, with mixed fill over marine clay and hard basalt further down. Near the sea and along the creeks, the water table is shallow and brackish.
Waterlogged, salty fill absorbs the pulse quickly, so utility lines that show clearly at two metres inland may fade at one metre here. The crew then fits a lower-frequency antenna, packs the cross-lines tighter and tapes depths at each chamber. Scanning practice for the city itself is on what we do: GPR survey in Mumbai.
What goes into a drawing for a BMC tender or trench file?
A plan of the underground utilities found, a depth schedule at each crossing and a marked-up route for your application or design. The utility maps arrive as AutoCAD and GIS layers in your chosen coordinate system, with chamber photos. Following subsurface utility engineering practice, a register names each line, its probable owner and how it was proven. Old ward records guide the search, yet no line from them enters the drawing until the field team has confirmed it.
Where the consultant also wants survey-grade coordinates, a DGPS survey for Mumbai sites can run on the same mobilisation. Ward permissions, local ground and frequent contractor errors are discussed in Mezux: utility survey guide for Mumbai.
What will a BMC job cost, and when can we mobilise?
Pricing runs by the metre of route covered; Mumbai projects carry a minimum order of ₹1,00,000, and long orders are discounted.
- Standard GPR scan (plan view): ₹24 per metre
- L-section, with depth plotted along the line: ₹32 per metre
- Minimum order: ₹1,00,000 for any one Mumbai project
- Whole-order discount: 25% above 100 km, 40% above 500 km, 50% above 1,000 km
- GST is extra
A 3 km plan-view job comes to ₹72,000, below the floor, so it is billed at ₹1,00,000. A 6 km run with the L-section costs ₹1,92,000. A Mezux engineer is based in Mumbai itself, which lets a ward job begin the day you sign off, and no later than the working day after. Where mobilisation or travel cost applies, our quote lists it as a separate line.
Can levels and coordinates be added for SWD and drain works?
Yes. A new SWD line may fall only a few centimetres over a block, so our staff can level and coordinate it during the radar visit. They tie in to the ward benchmarks first, then give each traced line and manhole invert an easting, northing and reduced level. The designer can test the new gradient against the buried utilities already in its path. Chamber lids and kerb lines come from a total station survey for ward roads. Satellite positioning for the city is covered under DGPS survey work in Mumbai.
Whose crews run GPR survey on BMC (MCGM) works?
Mezux Touch employees operate the radar on a BMC job, the radars are company property, and the same team draws the result. Underground survey has been the firm's trade since 2003, and no part of a BMC job is handed to a sub-contractor. Some jobs reach us as work orders issued by BMC (MCGM) itself. Others come from the contractors and consultants on construction projects laying hydraulic, SWD, power or fibre lines, and our drawing joins their ward file.
For utility mapping on a BMC road, send five details: a map pin or KMZ, the route length, the ward letter, the drawing's purpose and the trench date. Utility locating is added wherever live cables cross the route. Put these details in our quote form for Mumbai and an engineer will write the scope.
Frequently asked questions
Is BMC the same body as MCGM?
Yes. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai name one civic body; older drawings may use either.
Can you scan during the monsoon?
Scanning can go ahead between showers, but flooded streets and wet ground reduce radar depth. Most contractors book the dry months, so the drawing is ready when permissions reopen.
Do you cover every BMC ward?
Yes, every ward from A to T. The full area list sits on our page on survey coverage in Mumbai.
Can radar see through a concrete road?
Yes. It reads the slab, its reinforcement and the services below. Where dense rebar hides shallow services, the locator confirms them.
Can scanning happen overnight on a busy Mumbai arterial?
Yes, inside the traffic arrangement your ward permit sets. Night shifts are priced on request.
Do the services get marked on the concrete as well?
Yes. Before the gang arrives, each service gets a paint stripe or a peg over it, at the spot the plan shows.
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Written by Saniya Parveen · Technically reviewed by Rahul Rai · Updated 8 November 2026