Mulund residents protest teen’s death

Angered by the tragic death of 15-year-old Shubham Mane near the toll plaza on Eastern Express Highway in Mulund on Thursday, hundreds of residents and school students, who believed that he could have been saved had there been a foot over-bridge (FOB) connecting Mhada Colony to Mulund, staged a protest on the spot Saturday.

Shubham Mane, 15, a student of Smt. Nalini Yashwantrao Dode Vidyalaya, was hit by a speeding car while crossing the road to reach his Mhada Colony residence on Thursday night. Irked by the incident, the locals staged a protest in presence of Member of Parliament Sanjay Patil.

“We want the authorities to construct the bridge. This is a matter of life and death for thousands of pedestrians. If the bridge is not constructed, our protest will intensify,” said Patil.

Mhada colony, a residential area, is located on one side of the Eastern Express Highway. With the railway station and most schools barring one located on the other side, Mhada colony residents have no option but to cross the highway daily, negotiating the high speed traffic and putting their lives at risk. Five years ago, maximum accidents were reported at this junction. Locals have, since then, been demanding an FOB, which would enable to cross the highway safely.

Kishore Naik, a resident of Mhada Colony, said, “We brought up this issue with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) officials several times. But the junior staff members keep coming up with a new excuse each time. Had our request been considered, one life would have been saved.”

In January 2009, the MMRDA had started the work on an FOB just ahead of the toll plaza. “The foundation was also laid. But two housing societies in the neighbourhood objected to the project fearing invasion of their privacy, and the work stopped. Till date the work has not been started,” added Naik.

Besides, the residents had also undertaken a signature campaign demanding the construction of an FOB near the toll plaza. Thousands of signatures were taken and presented before the MMRDA authorities. MMRDA officials, however, stated that the project was scrapped eight months ago because two housing societies objected to it. Saraswati Society is said to be one of the societies objecting to the project.

However, Vilas Jadhav, president of the Mhada Tower Association said that though the issue was brought to their notice by housing societies, they did not oppose the project, nor did they send any letter to MMRDA regarding the FOB.

“We will consider the issue and check the feasibility of the FOB,” said an official from MMRDA.