A Road Much Travelled

The 100 m stretch of Railway Over Bridge between the Eastern Express Highway and Kanjurmarg, Mumbai has become a major bone of contention between several corporate bigwigs and MSRDC. Several corporate bigwigs are up in arms against Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) over the delayed expansion of a 100 m stretch of Railway Over Bridge between the Eastern Express Highway and Kanjurmarg. “Expansion of the two-lane road, built to provide connectivity to the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli link, was taken up over 14 years ago, but till date nothing has been done,” says a source from Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), which has its offices on the road. The company recently shot off a strongly-worded letter to the MSRDC urging it to start the expansion work on a war-footing, as it is causing them huge productivity losses. “We are spending almost Rs 25-30 lakh every year for the maintenance of the road; but we do not seek any compensation from MSRDC. We just want the work to be finished soon, as it is proving very inconvenient to our employees. They are stuck in traffic for almost 30 minutes every day. During monsoons, it only gets worse,” says the source from the company. Subhash Nage, Chief Engineer, MSRDC, however refutes these allegations. “The expansion is being duly carried out. It is mainly taking time as we are awaiting the permissions of the railways. As soon as that is done, we will finish laying the girders across the two spans by October 2010. We expect to complete the entire project by December 2010,” he says. The matter, for now seems to be heading in the right direction with a perfect solution in sight. Now what remains to be seen is whether the project actually reaches a logical conclusion or it turns out be a mare’s nest. Give your views at feedback@ASAPPmedia.com