The construction debris, below the Wadala-Jacob Circle monorail, poses a danger to motorists
While construction work on the second phase of the monorail project from Wadala to Jacob Circle was completed months ago, the construction debris has been lying untouched below the monorail girders at various places along the route, posing a hindrance to motorists in these areas.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) have been passing the buck to each other with a lack of clarity on who is responsible for clearing it.
At various locations from the Dadar East to Naigaon stretch of the GD Ambedkar Marg, the road alongside the median has been dug up with barricades surrounding it. This has taken up space of one full lane on either side of the road, creating heavy traffic jam in peak hours.
With the onset of monsoon, neither the BMC nor the MMRDA seem to have any plans to remove the debris and resurface the roads.
Amey Ghole, Shiv Sena corporator has alleged that compared to the metro projects in the city, the monorail seems to have been given lesser importance by the MMRDA. “In my experience, the level of efficiency and coordination between officials in MMRDA for the monorail is not at the same level as it is for the Metro projects,” he said.
In the works committee meeting which conducted last month, Ghole had raised the issue of clearing the debris and resurfacing the patches on GD Ambedkar Marg but failed to get a solution.
“If the BMC has to clear the debris of the work carried out by another agency, they have to pay the civic body. However, in this case, both the agencies do not have clarity as to who will carry out the road work. With the monsoons approaching, the situation will only get worse,” Ghole said.
Sanjay Khandare, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said, “The construction work of monorail phase II has been completed by us. The road belongs to the BMC and the onus of maintaining it is on them.”
Analysis
While a tussle plays out between two agencies — BMC and MMRDA — citizens are suffering. While the monorail phase II (Wadala to Jacob Circle) construction work has been completed, the debris has still not been cleared for months. It poses a danger to motorists and has been causing traffic snarls. The problem will only aggravate during the monsoon.
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