Residents block traffic for half an hour to press their demands.
Residents of Kalina-Kurla area on Saturday staged a rasta roko to press their demand of completion of the Kalina-Kurla bridge over Mithi river at the earliest. The protesters forced traffic on LBS Road to a standstill for close to half an hour.
“For years now, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has shut the bridge. As far as I can remember, it has been a minimum of five years now since its closure for repairs,” said Soma David, a resident of Kalina and an NCP worker.
Another local, Dr Aditi Salvi, said, “It becomes problematic during medical emergencies as people have to take a detour through CST Road-Kapadia Nagar, which is crowded due to scrap dealers. The bridge in question is not even open for two-wheelers and light vehicles, making it all the more difficult for locals.”
“The bridge does not pose any engineering challenges, and yet the BMC is dragging its feet over the construction. Similar is the tale of the bridge at Dharavi, after its collapse. The BMC spends crores of rupees on other issues and ignores local infrastructure,” said Anil Galgali, an RTI activist.
Development and beautification work of the entire 17.84-km-long Mithi river has been divided between the two government agencies — the BMC and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
The civic body is supposed to maintain the area between Powai lake and CST Road, whereas for the stretch between CST Road to Mahim Bay, the MMRDA is in charge of beautification and developing the riverfront.
After the July 2005 deluge, the BMC had decided to build five bridges on the river but has managed to complete only one at Kranti Nagar. The existing Kalina-Kurla bridge was demolished for a new one.
BMC’s chief engineer LS Vatkar said, “Work is stuck due to encroachment on one side of the bridge. The clearing of the encroachment is in the final stages and we have project-affected people-tenements, to shift the eligible slum dwellers, ready. By next year, the bridge will be all set for traffic.”
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