Local residents are up in arms complaining that the flyover is being thrown open without any noise barriers being installed on it.
The 1.5km flyover starting from Maheshwari Udyan will be inaugurated on Thursday by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. While thousands of motorists will be relieved now that the flyover is being thrown open, not everyone is happy with the inauguration.
Local residents are up in arms complaining that the flyover is being thrown open without any noise barriers being installed on it.
Local resident and whistle blower Nikhil Desai said that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has not installed noise barriers on any of the flyovers completed on Dr Ambedkar Road. “They simply made an announcement that these barriers will be installed. However, they should have actually installed them before throwing open the flyovers to the public after a grand opening,” opined Desai.
He also alleged that some of the pillars of the flyover towards the north side may cause some trouble for the motorists plying under it. “Pillars numbers 3, 4, 5, 6 and 29 are too close to the motorists plying under the flyover. I have written several times to the traffic police as well as to the MMRDA. But so far, I have not been given any hearing and all my complaints have fallen on deaf ears,” complained Desai.
The 70-crore Maheshwari Udyan-Tulpule Chowk flyover is 17metres wide, providing two southbound and northbound lanes each. The Rs150 crore and 2.5km Lalbaug flyover will also be 17 metres wide, providing two southbound and northbound lanes each, and is to be thrown open shortly.
The Lalbaug flyover which will be opened to the public soon will be built using a new technology. “The Lalbaug flyover is being constructed on a single pier system with the help of launching girder technology with pre-fabricated segments. It has also been a major challenge to deal with utilities and redesign every foundation in the presence of age-old water supply and sewer lines,” said MMRDA additional metropolitan commissioner Ashwini Bhide.
When asked about the noise barriers issue, MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar said that the noise barriers will be installed once all the flyovers are up and running. Residents have been complaining that the Maheshwari Garden-Tulpule Chowk flyover will be thrown open without installation of noise barriers but they may have to wait longer for a solution. “We will be calling comprehensive tenders for all the existing flyovers and I am sure within the next few months, the local residents will not have anything to complain about,” informed Kawathkar.
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