A 25-foot-wide motorable road leading to the Andheri railway station on the west side has fallen prey to hawkers and unauthorised construction. Closed for traffic for more than a year, the thoroughfare today is a thin lane and a bustling footwear market, addressed chappal galli by locals. Residents and local MLA attribute the mess to lethargic civic officials.
A 25-foot-wide motorable road leading to the Andheri railway station on the west side has fallen prey to hawkers and unauthorised construction. Closed for traffic for more than a year, the thoroughfare today is a thin lane and a bustling footwear market, addressed chappal galli by locals. Residents and local MLA attribute the mess to lethargic civic officials.
The hawker-infested road has its one end on the opposite of Navrang Cinema lane on SV Road, while the other connects to Andheri station towards platform number 1. This is the shortest route to reach the station for people coming from Jogeshwari end.
Barely 100 metres from the local ward office of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), autorickshaws and cars used to ply on the road until work on the last stretch of Metro began. No sooner was it closed for vehicles than street vendors filled it. Stall owners too have extended their shops illegally.
The road is so constricted that even if authorities decide to open it for vehicles, motorists will find it hard to negotiate through it.
Local MLA Ameet Satam said the hawkers are thriving despite the Andheri station area being a no-hawking zone. "I've already written to the civic administration. I will raise this issue in the assembly if they don't resolve the problem. BMC should give the legal hawkers an alternative place in a hawking zone."
Pratap Dighavkar, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), said his staff is in touch with the BMC as the lane is very important for vehicular movement. "It will be a great relief to rail commuters, besides reducing traffic load at the station signal on SV Road. We hope the civic body will clear the encroachments and help us open it for motorists."
Senior BMC officials admitted that hawkers were a big nuisance, but sought to put the ball in traffic department's court. Parag R Masurkar, assistant municipal commissioner, K-west ward, said nearly 40 licensed stalls and owners sometimes extend their shops illegally. "Whenever our officers spot an unauthorised extension, they remove it. We also clear the area of hawkers, but they keep coming back. We have no objection if the traffic police want to open the lane for vehicles."
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}