Road over bridges delay Oshiwara station again

An already delayed project will have to wait longer owing to the delay in construction of two road over bridges at Jogeshwari and Goregaon; officials blame illegal encroachments for the setback

For those who were hoping that the Oshiwara railway station would be thrown open to the public soon, there is bad news. They will have to wait much longer owing to the delay in construction of two road over bridges (ROBs), one at Jogeshwari station and another near Goregaon station.

The station, which was to come up between Goregaon and Jogeshwari, was given the green signal in 2006 and work was to be completed in 2008. Three years on, the work at the station is yet to be completed and the latest deadline of December 2013 seems unlikely to be met.

Can't bridge the gap: In the past six months, the work at the two ROBs has completely stopped. Officials from the BMC claim that illegal encroachment has become an obstacle towards the construction of the bridges. Pic/Omkar Gaokar

The reason for the delay is now being attributed to the delay in construction of the two ROBs, which are supposed to improve the east-west connectivity.

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In the past six months, the work at the two ROBs has completely stopped. Officials from the BMC claim that illegal encroachment had become an obstacle towards the construction of the bridges. "We are facing difficulties in removing the encroachments. Also, we need to acquire private land on the western side of Goregaon station before continuing the work," said a BMC official, requesting anonymity.

R Tare, deputy chief engineer, bridges, said, "We are tackling the issues and hope to open it to motorists very soon."
Railway officials allege the ROBs delay has also caused a delay in the construction of the railway station.

"The construction of the station will now be delayed by three months. We cannot open the station till the level crossing is closed," said a railway official. According to the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation, the Oshiwara railway station will not open until the level crossing at Jogeshwari is closed to motorists.

Currently, two island platforms, skeletal structure of the roofs and tracks can be seen at the site of the Oshiwara station. u00a0

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Rs 137 cru00a0The proposed expenditure on each ROBu00a0