Mumbai: Four months on, Chandivli road no closer to reality

Two-wheelers and trucks on the partially built 90-foot-long road on February 10. File pic/Sameer Markande

The process of acquiring land and issuing work orders for the construction of the long-awaited 90-foot-long road in Chandivli is on the slow track. After floating tenders on August 21, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has yet to issue a work order after four months. The land through which the road is to run is ridden with encroachments.

Despite a flood of requests and written correspondence, the BMC wasn't keen on constructing the road, which has been in the Development Plan of the BMC for the past 30 years.

After residents went on a hunger strike on August 20, the roads department of the BMC invited tenders to construct Chandivli Farm Road up to JVLR. Simultaneously, officials of the L ward, which comprises Chandivli and Kurla, issued eviction notices to encroachers. The BMC received responses from two contractors in October but the civic body has neither finalised the contract nor issued a work order.

‘Want civic chief to step in'

"The road is an important connector between JVLR and Chandivali Farm Road, which has been delayed for the past 30 years. It resolves the major traffic issue in our area. We are very disappointed with the snail-like speed at which progress is unfolding. We request the municipal commissioner to intervene, expedite the work and hand the road over to the people as soon as possible," said Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder of the Chandivli Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA).

An official from the roads department said a proposal to sanction a contractor for the construction of the road had been submitted for approval. "The proposal is with the CA department. The final approval will be from the administrator (commissioner). The work order may be given within two to three weeks," the official said.

He added that the land was not in a suitable state to construct the road. "We will construct the road after getting an intimation from the ward. Our job is to construct roads. Land acquisition and removal of encroachments are not under our purview," the official said.

BMCSpeak

Dhanaji Herlekar, assistant commissioner of L ward, said the civic body was working on the removal of encroachments. "We issued eviction notices but the slum dwellers approached the civil as well as high court. The process of submission of papers will take time," he said.

A BMC official said there were around 700 to 800 structures on private land that had to be removed. Makkar, however, said the figure was less than 100 but the BMC had made the matter complicated.

The civic body constructed one-third of the DP road a few years ago, which is a parking lot now, as it is a cul-de-sac. The land through which the rest of the road is supposed to pass belongs to two parties, a private developer and a central government corporation, but is being occupied by encroachers.