Thane Mayor Rajan Vichare squarely blamed NGOs for putting a spike in the development projects of the city delaying projects worth around Rs 2000 Crores since the last several years.
THANE: Thane Mayor Rajan Vichare on Tuesday squarely blamed the NGOs for putting a spike in the development projects of the city which delayed projects worth around Rs 2000 Crores since the last several years.
Addressing a news conference here, Mr Vichare quoted a few projects like Nature Park, Mass Rapid Transport System, Hanging Garden were delayed due to such resistance. "The result of such attitude was that the projects get delayed and the cost of the same also escalates year after year," he added.
Taking into account the rapid development of the city and the population growth, the civic corporation in consultation with the experts and representatives concerned had prepared the Vision 2031 document which dealt with the various development projects.
One among them was the Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme (SATIS) project approved by the TMC on June 14, 2004. The multi-crore project was in the final stage of it's take off when NGO Jagg took objection.
"When the project details were put up for the public scrutiny, this NGO kept quite and at the final stage before start of the project, it raises objections which are uncalled for," he said.
Giving details, he said the circulation area of the railway station provides means for exchanging different modes of transport.
This area outside Thane Railway Station is inadequate to cater to the current load as a result; commuters have to face a lot of problems.
For which, the Thane Municipal Corporation proposed to add extra area by constructing deck in front of Thane Railway Station to facilitate the buses to ply over deck and rest of the modes below deck.
The Central Railways have concurred the implementation of the scheme with few suggestions like creating facade and space frame over deck to improve aesthetic looks of old Station Building also.
This is taken well care of and the Principal Chief Engineer, Central Railways has given approval in principle.
The Thane Railway Station takes pride of being one of the first Railway stations on the Rail Link in India. Presently it is a major Railway station in Thane- Kalyan section of Central Railway. Around
Four Lac commuters travel from Thane Railway station daily at present and the number will reach up to 20.31 Lac in 2031.
Despite the resistance, the Mayor said that the civic body was determined to go ahead with the projects as they were in the interest of the city and its citizens. The project was sure to change the face of the city and reduce the traffic issues, he added.
The city population is 16 lakhs and of these 4 lakh people make use of the railway station daily. The project, aimed to decongest traffic, will be at three levels one exclusively for the buses with 16 pick-up sheds, other one for the auto rickshaws, and the other for the pedestrians.
The proposal was to build a bridge right across up to the Jambli Naka with a cost of Rs 30 crores. It will comprise of the foot over bridges, concourse area, railway bridges and include the flyover and ramps etc to clear the traffic.
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