Four years on, link road between Kurla and Vidyavihar still on paper

In an example of how presence of shanties prevent development, a road which was to come up between Kurla and Vidyavihar stations still waits to see the light of the day. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had awarded the contract for the road four year back.

The missing road in question is the Ramdev Peer Marg, which at present is partially non-existent. In all, 383 structures are in the way of creating this missing link. "These 383 structures fall under two civic wards. There is need to develop internal roads for speedy and smooth traffic movement. Once this road is ready, it will connect people between Vidyavihar (West) and Kurla (West) stations as well as Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road," said Right to Information activist Anil Galgali who filed an application to check the status of the project.

As per the response received from BMC, RPS Infraprojects Pvt. Ltd. was issued the Rs98.40-crore work order on January 19, 2010 with a target of completing the project by December 25, 2012. The plan is to have a 60-feet wide and 950 meter-long road over a nullah behind Kohinoor Education Complex.

If this road is constructed, it will take less than 10 minutes to reach Kurla or Lokmanya Tilak Terminus from Vidyavihar. At present it takes close to half an hour to cover the distance. It will also help in partially reducing traffic on the arterial LBS Road. "The work on this road will commence soon and we have extended the contract duration to April 2014 with an aim to complete the project," informed a civic official.