The powers-that-be at Western Railway (WR) have rightfully realised that something is better than nothing. In a move to make something out of the disastrous elevated autorickshaw deck at Andheri, the railways has turned it into a pedestrian deck so that people can move from the middle foot over bridge to the overcrowded north FOB with ease.
The powers-that-be at Western Railway (WR) have rightfully realised that something is better than nothing. In a move to make something out of the disastrous elevated autorickshaw deck at Andheri, the railways has turned it into a pedestrian deck so that people can move from the middle foot over bridge to the overcrowded north FOB with ease.
The move has also cleared some of the crowding on the north FOB which has seen a huge rise in footfalls ever since the Andheri metro rail station got commissioned last June. The metro station is connected to Andheri station through the north FOB.
Speaking to dna, Shailendra Kumar, divisional railway manager, WR, said: "It made sense to open it up for commuter movement till such time as we are able to get autorickshaws on them as planned. That of course will require widening of the approach road to the elevated deck. The point is that there should be faster clearance of commuters at Andheri station and that is happening now."
The Andheri auto deck is one of the biggest embarrassments of the railways. A brainchild of the construction department of WR, the plan was to build a 100 metre-long elevated autorickshaw lane, wherein autorickaws will enter from Swami Nityanand Road in front of the BEST bus depot on the east of the station, move on to a two-lane elevated deck — 60 metre-long and 34metre-wide with footpaths on either sides — built between the middle and north FOBs. From there the autos would pick commuters, cross the north FOB and take a ramp down and move onto the north-eastern part of the station, go to MV Road and back onto the Andheri-Kurla road.
The plan, brilliant on paper, unraveled soon after. Firstly, the railways realised that there was just no way they could get rickshaws to cross the north FOB since such an arrangement — having a rickshaw-commuter junction on an FOB — had never been attempted anywhere in the country. In another body blow, the railways realised that the approach road from which rickshaws would enter the deck had to be widened and shops on both sides had to be rehabilitated. The BMC needs to get the road clear and officials said widening of the approach road was looking increasingly bleak.
The deck, which is 90 per cent complete since construction started in 2011 and has a price tag of Rs8 crore, was supposed to be commissioned last year. But it has missed several deadlines since May last year.
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