On birthday, CM Shinde gifts Kopri ROB to Thane

Thane: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on the occasion of his birthday yesterday inaugurated the much-awaited Kopri bridge in Thane. 

To decongest the Mumbai-Thane border roads, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has upgraded the 2+2 lane railway over bridge (ROB) to a 4+4 lane at Kopri in Thane city. Built by the Central Railway, the cost of the 784mt-long and 37.04mt-wide ROB has been borne by the development body. 

Gift of jam-free transit from Mumbai to Thane 

The vehicular traffic from 5+5 Eastern Express Highway on 2+2 lane Kopri bridge is maximum during peak hours during which it becomes a bottleneck. The widening promises jam-free transit from Mumbai to Thane for both small and heavy vehicles.

Meanwhile, a 50kg cake was cut in Thane to celebrate Shinde’s birthday, who has turned 59. The Opposition, however, added political colour by cutting a cake depicting a ‘khokha’, street lingo for a crore.

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and several other leaders visited Shinde’s Thaneresidence to greet him, while the CM himself went to Anand Ashram, the office complex from where his mentor Anand Dighe ran the undivided Shiv Sena in the region.

He also celebrated with the specially-abled children of Kisan Nagar, the ward of the Thane Municipal Corporation from where he started his political career in the 1990s. An activist of Shinde’s Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena offered 59 free autorickshaw rides to people in the city to mark the occasion.