Over 40 days after a landslide at NS Patkar Marg (Peddar Road) near Kemps Corner leading to the collapse of a retaining wall on a hill slope outside Hanging Garden, Malabar Hill, the south-bound road will now be open for vehicular traffic from today. However, due to the ongoing repairs, only south-bound arm of the NS Patkar Marg will be opened for both north and south-bound traffic according to time allotments.
According to a traffic official, starting Tuesday at 6 am, the south-bound arm of the NS Patkar Marg from Kemps Corner to RTI junction will be open for traffic. However, from 6 am to 2.30 pm, the road will be open for vehicles going towards south Mumbai and from 2.30 pm till 11 pm for vehicles going towards north Mumbai. The NS Patkar Marg will remain shut between 11 pm and 6 am.
The opening of the southbound arm of the NS Patkar Road comes as a sigh of relief for a number of motorists and residents, who were compelled to take a long reroute costing them an hour. A traffic official said, "After the landslide, traffic was diverted to Nana Chowk, leading to a massive snarl in the entire section including Peddar Road and Malabar Hill."
The road needed repairs as the boulders and loose soil at the spot was coming off, making it risky to allow vehicular movement between Kemps Corner flyover and RTI Junction. Due to the closure of the Kemps Corner flyover, motorists from Peddar Road, Breach Candy, Nepean Sea Road, Ridge Road were diverted to Nana Chowk, causing a massive bottleneck.
