MUMBAI: The city will get six new flyovers by the end of next year. And work on the controversial Peddar Road flyover will start by December.
Anil Deshmukh, public works minister, announced plans for these flyovers on Friday. He said the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has planned 42 flyovers under the Maharashtra Urban Infrastructure Project.
Of these, 14 were cleared for early completion, at a cost of about Rs350 crore, with work on six to begin soon (see box). Of the remaining eight, tenders are being floated for three while the decision on five has been kept pending.
According to Deshmukh, opposition to the Peddar Road flyover is waning. He pointed to recent tests by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board on the JJ Hospital flyover, which showed that pollution levels in the area went down by 60 per cent after the flyover was built.
“Peddar Road residents should smile,” the minister said. But a source in the Peddar Road Residents’ Association, whose members met the minister on Friday evening, said smiling is still far away.
The dialogue has just begun and opposition to the flyover is still strong. Besides, the techno-eco feasibility and environment impact assessment reports of the flyover are not yet complete.
Deshmukh said a flyover link between the domestic and international terminals is under consideration. Work on the 2.2km-long double-decker flyover between Chembur and Santa Cruz is underway. Some 3,500 slums on the route have been removed and work is to be completed by April 2007.
The minister was also confident that the ten-lane Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, which has been delayed for years, will be ready by May 2007. Another priority is the Bandra-Worli Sealink to clear traffic bottlenecks on Mahim Causeway.
