The elevated autorickshaw deck at Andheri (East) station may soon be started. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Friday informed the Bombay High Court that of the 19 stall owners blocking the approach road, around 16 have agreed to move to another location provided by the corporation. The remaining three have been given time till February 8 by the court to clarify their stand before the civic body.
The stall owners were given eviction notices last month by the corporation, which they had challenged in the high court. They had argued that they have been doing business there since the 1980s and the alternative accommodation offered by the corporation was in Dahisar which was not feasible.
Counsel Anil Sakhare, appearing for corporation, informed the court that the stall owners were blocking a public infrastructure project and were on footpath which was meant for pedestrians. He also informed the court that only a few stall owners are opposing the eviction notice and that the issue can be resolved through dialogue, if they approach the civic body. It was also argued that the police have issued a security alert against the stall owners.
Justice RD Dhanuka, while posting the matter for further hearing, on February 8, told the stall owners that it was in their interest that they resolve the issue by discussion with the corporation.
The stall owners are placed on a ramp leading to the deck on the eastern side of Andheri station. Currently, the deck is unused as the BMC is yet to clear its entrance from the Nityanand Road end. The construction on the deck started in 2011; it was supposed to be commissioned in December 2014, after missing several deadlines since May 2013.
A brainchild of the WR's construction department, the plan involved building a 100-metre-long elevated autorickshaw lane on which the three-wheelers will enter from Swami Nityanand Road, just in front of the BEST depot at Agarkar Chowk, and 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 FOBs. From there, the autorickshaws would pick up commuters and return to the eastern side of the station without crossing the north FOB.
