Demolition outside Andheri station gets BMC thumbs-up from commuters

Two days after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished vendor stalls on the eastern side of Andheri station, in order to pave way for the elevated autorickshaw deck, pleasantly surprised commuters gave the civic body a thumbs-up – in writing.

Many commuters actually took out time to stop, sign and leave their mobile numbers on the feedback forms that employees had kept on a table at the entrance of the alley. According to a BMC employee manning the table, it was applause and appreciation from all quarters.

“People are coming to tell us that they have been using the alley for 30 years now and have never found it this wide. It was a nightmare, especially during the monsoon. It feels good when, for a change, the BMC gets praise. It motivates us,” said the employee.

In fact, motivating civic staff is the purpose of the feedback forms, K-east ward deputy municipal commissioner Devendra Jain told dna. “When we carry out demolitions to ensure completion of some important infrastructural project, we want people to know about it. We also want people to appreciate us, so that the entire staff remains motivated,” said Jain.

The widening of the approach road will now bring life to the stalled auto deck project, agreed Western Railway (WR) officials. The Andheri elevated auto-deck is a novel experiment in which, possibly for the first time, Railways would be using its airspace to reduce traffic snarls on a road outside its territory.

A brainchild of the construction department of WR, the plan includes building a 100-metre elevated lane, through which autos can enter from Swami Nityanand Road in front of the BEST depot at Andheri (E). The rickshaws will then move on to a two-lane elevated deck – 60 metre long and 34 metre wide with footpaths on either sides – built between the middle and north foot over bridges (FOBs) of Andheri station.

The original plan was that autos would pick commuters, cross the north-end FOB, and descend down a five-metre-wide ramp and take a road besides the newly constructed railway police building near the Metro station and move to MV Road. From here, the autos move to Andheri-Kurla Road. Unable to find a solution to how autos would cross the busy FOB, however, WR decided to have rickshaws return the same way as they came up from the Nityanand Road.

Started in 2011, the project was to be completed by December 2013 but got stalled as the BMC was unable to clear the approach lane of shops till now. The encroached alley meant that rickshaws couldn't approach this deck.