Locals fear TMC roadwork will go down the drain

The woes of residents in Tikujiniwadi and neighboring areas see no signs of waning as the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has failed to complete the construction of storm water drains on the sides of the road that connects Happy Valley to Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Residents now say that in the absence of these drains, the road — built at a cost of Rs1.2 crore and after a wait of 12 years — will be washed away.

The beginning of this year brought some good news for residents as the work on the stretch between Happy Valley and Sanjay Gandhi National Park finally started after the long wait. The residents of societies such as Hill Garden and Kalptaru otherwise had to travel 1km extra in the absence of this stretch.

The TMC built this stretch between January and March at a cost of Rs1.2 crore.

The residents have demanded the construction of storm water drains on both the sides of the road, since rainwater would otherwise damage the road. "The TMC did start constructing a drain on one side in the first week of June," said Shashikumar Nair, a resident from Hill Garden society. "But since the past two weeks, they have stopped the work for reasons best known to them," he added.

The residents said that they have reminded the TMC many times about this pending work, but to no avail. "In spite of sending repeated reminders to the TMC commissioner and the civil engineer, the work has been stopped," he said.

The residents feared that with excessive rainfall, this roadwork is, quite literally, likely to go down the drain. "We wonder if the road will be able to sustain itself in the absence of these drains in case of heavy rainfall," Nair said.
Sandip Malvi, TMC's public relations officer, was unavailable for comments.