Mumbai: To decongest WEH, BMC plans to link Kurar, Malad reservoir

Appa Pada in Malad East, which is on the route, on Monday. Pic/Sameer Markande

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has come up with an idea to reduce traffic on the Western Express Highway - connecting Lokhandwala at Kurar to Malad hill reservoir and, eventually, the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR). The civic body has invited tenders to appoint a consultant to prepare a detailed project report for new connectivity between Lokhandwala and Malad reservoir on the eastern side of the Western suburbs.

The official from the civic road department, who is working on the project, said the stretch is marked in the Development Plan 2034. "We will develop this road via Malad Appa Pada. Also, there is a need for a bridge along the way that is 900 metres long. The consultant will suggest what type of bridge can be constructed or if there can be a tunnel. The road will be 18.2 metres wide. The consultant will draft a feasibility report as well as a project report. Also, a consultant will monitor the project, officially added.

This proposed road will be linked to Film City Road and the GMLR, said an official. This proposed road will run parallel to the Western Express Highway, helping decongest the latter. "As per our estimates, 25 per cent of traffic can be reduced from the highway at Malad," the official stated. People who travel from Borivli, Kandivali, or Malad can use this road, the official added. After issuing the tender, the project will take 48 months to be completed excluding the monsoon season.

According to BMC documents, the total length of GMLR is 12.2 km and it comprises an underground twin tunnel below Sanjay Gandhi National Park that is 4.7 km long. The completion of the GMLR will vastly decongest the existing road network of suburban Mumbai. It is the only link road that directly connects the western suburbs to Navi Mumbai. The project is due to be completed in four years.

12.2km
Total length of GMLR