The residents in Bamanwada village near Sahar International Airport have opposed the construction of a bypass to ESR between Western Express highway’s Parle junction.
With only a few days left for chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to inaugurate the construction work of the proposed elevated Sahar Road (ESR), the residents in Bamanwada village near Sahar International Airport have opposed the construction of a bypass to ESR between Western Express (WE) highway’s Parle junction and the airport.
Residents of the village, led by advocate Godfrey Pimenta and MLA Kripashankar Singh, knocked on MMRDA’s doors on Wednesday to convey their reservations about the proposed bypass.
They told chief engineer SR Nandargikar at the official hearing that the road, though it promised to reduce the distance between WE highway and the airport, would result in the loss of homes of around 1,000 inhabitants who had been staying there for over 100 years.
Pimenta said the engineers reasoned that since the construction of the ESR would hamper traffic, construction of the bypass was necessary to avoid inconvenience.
The residents, including local corporator Nitin Salagre, requested the engineers to carve the road through the nearby open space of Post and Telegraph Colony. “The colony is being vacated for hotel construction. This could help save the houses of Bamanwada residents,” said Pimenta.
The residents also called on metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad to apprise him of the situation. Pimenta said the public notice for this bypass was issued on November 20, 2007 and notices were issued to the inhabitants.
Clarifying his stand, Gaikwad said the MMRDA would go ahead with the alignment that would affect the least number of people in the area. He added that MMRDA would go ahead with the elevated Sahar road project as per schedule.
The ESR project, estimated to cost Rs287 crore, aims to improve the movement of traffic between Sahar International airport and the Western Express Highway. The construction work is slated to begin on January 10, 2008.
t_chittaranjan@dnaindia.net
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