Eye on BMC polls, BJP proposes to decongest Dadar railway station

MUMBAI: Ahead of the crucial BMC polls 2017, BJP is leaving no stone unturned to woo Marathi voters, especially in constituencies where its ally, the Shiv Sena, has a strong presence.
On Thursday morning, city BJP president Ashish Shelar, along with a delegation of Dadar residents, met BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta, Western Railway general manager G C Agarwal and other senior railway officials and presented a plan to decongest Dadar railway station and areas in the vicinity by creating levels above the premises to accommodate hawkers, commuters and railway facilities.“Dadar is centrally located, therefore it’s important to manage the congestion around the railway station. I have already spoken to railway minister Suresh Prabhu, who is positive about the idea,” said Shelar.
Architect Uday Dighe, also a Dadar resident, said they had been trying for long to meet Mehta and present their Dadar station remodel plan, and Shelar made it happen. “Dadar is one of the railway stations with the highest commuter density, therefore creating a few levels above the railway station would be economically feasible. In the presentation, we recommended to move hawkers, pedestrians, vehicles and railway facilities on the level above the railway station,” he added.
Dadar resident Rohit Khaire, who is convenor of www.savedadar.org, assured that locals will not be affected by the improvement plan.
Pointing out that the plan could face some legal and Development Control Regulation-related issues, Mehta said, “However, today technology allows one to do anything and these are issues we should engage with.”
Shelar said BJP is the future for Dadar and everything else will “now be history”. “Other parties are only putting up their flags in Dadar, but we will create a model of development,” he said, taking digs at the Sena.
Political analysts said BJP is steadily trying to make inroads into Sena-dominated constituencies. Surendra Jo-ndhale, a analyst, said, “With the BJP ruling at the Centre and the state, it is being politically ambitious as far as BMC polls are concerned. The BMC budget is huge...BJP is probably making such moves to have independent control over the civic body.”