Mumbai: Residents of Kandivali Lokhandwala and Hanuman Nagar came onto the roads to agitate against the traffic jams, due to which commuters and citizens are regularly affected.
The residents, complaining about the poor management, said they have only one Akurli road to travel towards the Western Express Highway and Kandivali railway stations. During working hours, it takes nearly an hour to reach the station. Despite several complaints and correspondence, no one has addressed the issue. The proposed DP road has also been pending for many years.
Nitin Jha, president of the Sohum Foundation and resident, said the citizens have been facing this issue since 2014. Jha said, "We have been following this issue. We have made several complaints and sent correspondence to the BMC ward, local MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar, local MP Gopal Shetty, the local corporator, and the police station, but our problem fell on deaf ears. Political leaders only gave assurances but did nothing."
Citizen will block western express highway
To draw attention, the citizens had also agitated on the Akurli road. Also, if the problem persist, they have threatened to block the Western Express Highway.
Now people are using only one road, which is Akurli Road, which starts from Kandivali Station on the east side and goes to Hanuman Nagar, Lokhandwala, and finally Damu Nagar. Hawkers and indiscriminate parking add more difficulties while passing from the road.
According to BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar, there is a proposed DP road that starts from Magathane to Goregaon. It is a parallel road to the western express highway. This DP road was proposed in 1991, but until 2014, nothing had been done by Congress and Shivsena party leaders for the construction of the new DP road.
When the BJP government came to power in the year 2014, CM Devendra Fadnavis, in his capacity, convinced Anand Mahindra to buy a piece of land from the Mahindra company to extend the road.
There was a Shapoorji Pallonji transit camp that was under construction, and some land was also taken from them for the road. land was under the Forest Act.
The biggest hurdle is the slums of Singh Estate
The biggest hurdle in the road construction is the slums of "Singh Estate," with over 310 slums. They want homes in the same locality. Without shifting them, roads cannot be constructed. The area also connects to the Magathane and Dindoshi, which are under the jurisdiction of separate MLAs.
Bhatkhlakar further said, "I have convinced the municipal commissioner that this road comes under the comprehensive mobility plan of the Mumbai city. I had drawn attention to this issue in the last assembly session too, and thereafter, this road was declared a vital infrastructure project. I am very hopeful that this road will be completed within a year."
