Mumbai: Garbage trucks may get direct line to dump yard from 2024

BMC has paid Rs 1.03 crore for wire relocation. File pic/ Sameer Markande

The menace of solid waste dumpers on the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road will end next year when the bypass of the flyover that leads directly to the dumping ground in Deonar opens early next year. Currently, heavy vehicles cannot use the second arm of the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road Flyover due to the presence of high-tension overhead wires, which connects the dumping ground to the flyover.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) incurred an additional cost of Rs 11 crore while constructing the flyover for the approximately 250-metre-long connector. "This arm was primarily constructed for dumpers due to regular complaints about the smell of dumpers and their speed in reaching the dumping site," said a BMC official. "The flyover was opened for traffic in 2021, but dumpers couldn't use this arm due to the high-tension wires," the official added.

The Civic Bridge Department wrote a letter to the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (MSETCL) in September 2023 regarding the transfer of the high-tension wires. This will allow heavy vehicles to use the flyover and alleviate traffic congestion. According to the letter, BMC has already paid Rs 1.03 crore for wire relocation.

An MSETCL official has confirmed that land has been approved for erecting a new tower for the high-tension wire, and work will commence soon. Mahendra Warke, chief engineer of MSETCL, stated that the work on raising the high-tension wire will begin after the tower is erected and is expected to be completed by the end of December 2023. In a letter to MSETCL, the BMC referenced a news article published in mid-day that highlighted the delay in raising the height of the high-tension wire.

2021
Year flyover was opened