Half-built Dharavi skywalk shatters traffic-ease hope
Meant to ease up traffic in the busy T-junction of 60 Feet Rd, the half-finished skywalk has only added to the nuisance.
A half-built skywalk, initially intended for being built between Dharavi’s Abhyuday Bank Chowk and Mahim (east) for easing traffic woes in the otherwise busy T-junction on 60 Feet Road, has only added to the woes for the last one-and-half-years.
Proposed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) to be built at the cost of Rs 20 crore in 2014, the 1.6-kilometre skywalk was supposed to take only a year for completion. Spurred by the high number of accidents that happened in the area, locals had been demanding for a skywalk for a while then. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was approached first. But after their refusal, MHADA took up the cause.
Since then, the half-finished skywalk has only added to the traffic nuisance in the area. The gigantic structure restricts vehicular movement, leading to cars sometimes taking at least an hour to cross the stretch, and acts as a hurdle for the hundred who cross the junction every minute.
Local Congress MLA Varsha Gaikwad said, “When Prithviraj Chavan was the Chief Minister, this project was sanctioned and Rs 14 crore was allocated to the project. Work went on smoothly for a year or so, but after that, it just stopped. When I inquired with MHADA officials, they claimed they did not have enough funds sanctioned by the government for the project.”
Gaikwad alleged that she had met housing minister Prakash Mehta several times over the issue and had also approached Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, but got no response. Even raising the issue twice in the Assemble failed to yield any result for Gaikwad.
“Now the only option I have left is to take to the streets in protest,” she ruefully added.
Meanwhile, Subhash Lakhe from the Mumbai Housing and Area Development Board said, “The work has stopped as no funds have been sanctioned for the project. We will commence work as soon as the government sanctions the work.”
A half-built skywalk, initially intended for being built between Dharavi’s Abhyuday Bank Chowk and Mahim (east) for easing traffic woes in the otherwise busy T-junction on 60 Feet Road, has only added to the woes for the last one-and-half-years.
Proposed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) to be built at the cost of Rs 20 crore in 2014, the 1.6-kilometre skywalk was supposed to take only a year for completion. Spurred by the high number of accidents that happened in the area, locals had been demanding for a skywalk for a while then. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was approached first. But after their refusal, MHADA took up the cause.
However, MHADA built only 500 metres of the skywalk, upto Baba Makhdoom Shah Dargah Chowk, at the cost of Rs 14 crore.
Since then, the half-finished skywalk has only added to the traffic nuisance in the area. The gigantic structure restricts vehicular movement, leading to cars sometimes taking at least an hour to cross the stretch, and acts as a hurdle for the hundred who cross the junction every minute.
Local Congress MLA Varsha Gaikwad said, “When Prithviraj Chavan was the Chief Minister, this project was sanctioned and Rs 14 crore was allocated to the project. Work went on smoothly for a year or so, but after that, it just stopped. When I inquired with MHADA officials, they claimed they did not have enough funds sanctioned by the government for the project.”
Gaikwad alleged that she had met housing minister Prakash Mehta several times over the issue and had also approached Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, but got no response. Even raising the issue twice in the Assemble failed to yield any result for Gaikwad.
“Now the only option I have left is to take to the streets in protest,” she ruefully added.
Meanwhile, Subhash Lakhe from the Mumbai Housing and Area Development Board said, “The work has stopped as no funds have been sanctioned for the project. We will commence work as soon as the government sanctions the work.”
