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Mumbai: To speed up north-south traffic and pave the way for railway expansion at CST, the state has decided that the stretch from CST to Wadala which includes P D’Mello Road would be concretised, widened and made slum-free over a three-year period.
Civic authorities are in the process of surveying shanties along the route and making an inventory of structures eligible for rehabilitation. “The entire footpath and 50 percent of the carriageway on P D’Mello Road is occupied by slumdwellers. This hinders traffic,’’ additional municipal commissioner Shrikant Singh said.
The BMC would allocate Rs 30-35 crore for concretising portions of P D’Mello Road, B N Pai Road and other roads which run from CST to Wadala in its budget.
The arterial Senapati Bapat Marg would also be upgraded. BMC had concretised portions of the road at Mahim and near Phoenix Mills last year and plans to concretise the remaining portions this year.
The government is keen to clear slums and widen P’DMello Road in order to push for the expansion of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by building additional platforms at Carnac Bandar. The road can be used as the access route for the expanded terminus.
The transport plan was discussed about a fortnight ago at a meeting convened by the chief minister to discuss the removal of encroachments. Vilasrao Deshmukh has set a three-year-deadline to remove encroachments lining key roads, water mains and the airport. A committee headed by the chief secretary has been set up to finalise the plan. An estimated two lakh tenements would be required to rehabilitate affected slumdwellers. Civic officials have already surveyed slums along Senapati Bapat Marg and found about 2,000 such structures. “Last year we had submitted a list of slums to MMRDA which will rehabilitate slumdwellers. But earlier this month, the MMRDA submitted a fresh inventory of structures as the state had extended protection to slums which came up till 2000,’’ said an official.
The BMC had also prepared a list of about 9,000 shanties surrounding its water mains that need to be cleared on a priority basis. Civic officials are still working out the rehabilitation plan. “We need to identify housing stock to accommodate slumdwellers,’’ an official said.
There are an estimated 32,000 shanties covering water mains between Marol and Mahim. “ We cannot conduct inspections and repairs because of the slums. But if the water mains burst, the slums will get marooned,’’ said an official from the hydraulic engineering department. Last year, a water main had burst at Powai. But fortunately there were no casualties as there were no structures around, he said.
Civic authorities are in the process of surveying shanties along the route and making an inventory of structures eligible for rehabilitation. “The entire footpath and 50 percent of the carriageway on P D’Mello Road is occupied by slumdwellers. This hinders traffic,’’ additional municipal commissioner Shrikant Singh said.
The BMC would allocate Rs 30-35 crore for concretising portions of P D’Mello Road, B N Pai Road and other roads which run from CST to Wadala in its budget.
The arterial Senapati Bapat Marg would also be upgraded. BMC had concretised portions of the road at Mahim and near Phoenix Mills last year and plans to concretise the remaining portions this year.
The government is keen to clear slums and widen P’DMello Road in order to push for the expansion of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by building additional platforms at Carnac Bandar. The road can be used as the access route for the expanded terminus.
The transport plan was discussed about a fortnight ago at a meeting convened by the chief minister to discuss the removal of encroachments. Vilasrao Deshmukh has set a three-year-deadline to remove encroachments lining key roads, water mains and the airport. A committee headed by the chief secretary has been set up to finalise the plan. An estimated two lakh tenements would be required to rehabilitate affected slumdwellers. Civic officials have already surveyed slums along Senapati Bapat Marg and found about 2,000 such structures. “Last year we had submitted a list of slums to MMRDA which will rehabilitate slumdwellers. But earlier this month, the MMRDA submitted a fresh inventory of structures as the state had extended protection to slums which came up till 2000,’’ said an official.
The BMC had also prepared a list of about 9,000 shanties surrounding its water mains that need to be cleared on a priority basis. Civic officials are still working out the rehabilitation plan. “We need to identify housing stock to accommodate slumdwellers,’’ an official said.
There are an estimated 32,000 shanties covering water mains between Marol and Mahim. “ We cannot conduct inspections and repairs because of the slums. But if the water mains burst, the slums will get marooned,’’ said an official from the hydraulic engineering department. Last year, a water main had burst at Powai. But fortunately there were no casualties as there were no structures around, he said.
Publication: Times of India, Mumbai; Date: Jan 23, 2006; Section: Times City ; Page Number: 7
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