Mumbai: BMC Demolishes Decades-Old Kali Mata Mandir For Goregaon-Mulund Link Road Construction, Owner Relocates Temple To Private Site

Mumbai: The BMC has demolished the decades-old Kali Mata Mandir, which was hindering the construction of the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR). The temple was situated in the middle of the road, and was causing traffic bottlenecks. The demolition took place on Friday after the owner relocated the temple to a private site.

The temple was situated beneath a flyover planned for Phase 3 of the GMLR, with a construction pillar already in place in Dindoshi, Goregaon East. The BMC had sanctioned a compensation of Rs. 25 lakhs to the owner of the temple.

The ambitious 12.2 km Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR), connects the Western Express Highway at Goregaon to the Eastern Express Highway at Mulund. It aims to alleviate congestion on major routes like the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road, Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road, and Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road. The P North ward office of the BMC had previously cleared the full stretch by demolishing affected structures. However, a 200 sq. ft. Kali Mata Mandir remained in the middle of the road, creating a bottleneck and causing traffic issues, as per civic sources.

The demolition was executed by the P North ward office, which deployed five assistant engineers, maintenance staff, a JCB, a dumper, and 20 laborers. A civic official stated, "The 40-year-old temple had become a source of traffic congestion in the area, making its removal essential for the progress of the GMLR. Following negotiations, the temple was successfully relocated to another site, allowing the demolition to proceed peacefully."

The project is divided into four phases with an estimated cost of Rs12,013 crore. As part of the GMLR project, the BMC will construct a twin tunnel and a box tunnel under Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Film City. Each tunnel will be 4.7 km in length, while the box tunnel will measure 1.6 km. The road is estimated to cut down the travel time between Mulund to Goregaon from existing 90 minutes to 25 minutes. The entire project is expected to be ready by 2028.