Mumbai: In a bid to streamline traffic, especially towards Terminal 1B of the international airport, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday demolished illegal shop extensions that had been encroaching on the road along the Western Express Highway (WEH) at Vile Parle for more than three decades. The civic body demolished a total of 102 structures, including 56 marble and granite shops.
Most of the shops that faced action, from Dayaldas Road to Shraddhanand Road junction to the domestic airport junction, sold marble and granite, said civic officials. This road, located near the domestic airport, links Vile Parle east and west via the Milan flyover.
About 50 per cent of the road had been encroached by marble shops displaying their ware on extensions or elaborate storefronts, which came under the civic hammer. Currently, the width of Dayaldas Road is about 30 feet, which will now be expanded to 90 feet.
Prashant Sapkale, assistant commissioner of the K (East) ward in whose jurisdiction this road falls said, “The road widening will not only streamline traffic towards the airport but also the Western Express Highway, as the other end of the road connects to the highway.”
The development work of Dayaldas Road has been pending for almost 30 years. It was first initiated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) in 2010. Phase 1 of the project from Milan Subway to Shraddhanand Road junction was completed in 2013. The MMRDA then handed over the project to the BMC. The civic body is now in charge of widening the road at this spot.
“The marble shops demolished on Saturday had occupied major portions of the road and owners had constructed unauthorised extensions to store marble slabs. The slabs were cleared and the extensions were demolished. Following this, work on road widening will begin soon and is estimated to be completed in a few months,” informed Sapkale. Of the 102 structures demolished on Saturday, 56 were marble and granite shops. The rest of the space had been encroached by other commercial and residential structures and these were cleared too.
This is not the first time that these marble and granite shops have been demolished.
The civic body had demolished these same shops in February 2018, but in no time, the illegal extensions resurfaced.
