15 September,2020 07:02 AM IST | Mumbai | Prajakta Kasale
The barricade being put on the road at Kemps corner on Monday
Much to the relief of motorists travelling to and from South Mumbai, one side of the busy Pedder Road will reopen, very likely from today. The road was closed to vehicular traffic after the August 5 landslide at Malabar Hill.
A section of N S Patkar Road connecting to Pedder Road Bridge will be reopened. Civic officials said work is underway to barricade the remaining section of the road, which is expected to be completed by Tuesday morning. About 800-metre-long stretch remained to be barricaded on Monday.
The damaged part of the road. Pics/Ashish Raje
The decision was taken after IIT-Bombay experts, along with traffic police and BMC officials, surveyed the road on Monday morning. "One side of N S Patkar road will be open most probably on Tuesday for traffic," said P Velarasu, additional commissioner of the BMC.
On August 5, heavy rain led to a landslide at Malabar Hill in which the retaining wall of B G Kher Road collapsed and the road caved in.
Initially, IIT experts were against resuming vehicular movement on the road. However, considering that this is a crucial link for South Mumbai traffic, the BMC requested them to re-examine the decision.
"Just like the road near Mahim Church, this road will be opened for north to south bound traffic in the morning and south to north traffic in the evening. This will help ease the traffic," said another BMC official.
The BMC is also conducting a geological survey, as asked by the IIT experts, to ascertain the damage, and expect to complete the report in another two to three weeks. Based on the report, the BMC will begin the repair work. The work to fix three water pipelines, which were also destroyed in the landslide, will also start once the survey is out. Meanwhile, a temporary pipeline has been placed for a year.
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