Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has rejected the Chief Minister’s direction to realign the proposed 120 ft DP road from Magathane to Goregaon stating that the realignment is technically not possible. The BMC chief passed an order on Tuesday while hearing a petition from citizens and cited that the proposed plan has been implemented and most part of the road has already been constructed.
On request of Magathane’s member of legislative assembly Prakash Surve, the Maharashtra Chief Minister had directed the BMC to realign the Magathane to Goregaon road proposed under DP 2034. However, Shishir Vivekanand Shetty and five other Kandivali residents had challenged CM’s directions in the Bombay High Court through a public interest litigation.
Advocate Rishi Bhatt, appearing for the petitioners, had submitted in the High Court that a meeting between the Deputy Chief Minister along with MLAs and other officials in June 2023 considered construction of a flyover to save the slum structures in Singh Estate that falls in the route of the said DP road. The BMC decided in September 2023, that if the bridge is constructed, the project value may be escalated to Rs. 950 crore and the slum dwellers would still have to be removed. Despite this, the Chief Minister issued a direction on March 14 this year to realign the complete DP Road.
Hearing the PIL against CM’s directions, the Bombay High Court had directed the BMC commissioner in July to decide the issue and check if the realignment is technically possible. BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani passed an order on Tuesday rejecting the CM’s directions. It stated that the municipal corporation has already constructed a part of the said DP road and the remaining encroached stretch of 250 metres needs to be developed in future by removing structure on availability of sufficient numbers of PAP tenements.
The BMC chief also observed that the DP road, which was sanctioned in the DP of 1967, 1991 and 2034, has been proposed between the two well-developed existing Akurli Road and Shyamnarayan Singh Road and therefore there is a need for development of this DP Road. The order stated that the BMC will develop the central portion of 250 metres of encroached road at the earliest and the eligible PAPs will be accommodated as per government policy in the vicinity.
Shetty said, “It is a great success that will now bring major relief to all the residtents of Lokhandwala township and other North Mumbaikars who were facing difficulties due to lack of this proposed road. We are sincerely thankful to our MLA Atul Bhatkalkar whose flawless and impeccable documentation for opening up of the road resulted into a quick success in our petition. Without him, getting this success would have been impossible.”
