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Kalyan commuters suffer as auto drivers strike over road congestion
Autorickshaw drivers, on Friday, called for an indefinite bandh to protest against an half-finished road-widening work in Kalyan (East), leaving several commuters
Autorickshaw drivers, on Friday, called for an indefinite bandh to protest against an half-finished road-widening work in Kalyan (East), leaving several commuters at Chinchpada and Chakki Naka stranded.
The road from Katemanivali chowk to Ganpathi chowk- Siddharth Nagar to Tisgaon Naka, which was to be widened to 40-50 foot, is half done. The narrow stretch of road faces a lot of congestion as the road is occupied by hawkers and vendors in the evening hours.
The road, at present, is 12-metre to 15-metre wide.
“There was no autorickshaw at Chinchpada when I left for work at 9 am. I had to walk more than 2 km to get to the railway station,” said Manika Prajapati, 29, a commuter.
“The civic body had widened some portions of the stretch. Hawkers and vendors occupy a major part of the road. The civic body should speed up the work,” said Sharad Patil, a Shiv Sena leader.
“We will not end the strike until we are assured by the civic body. We have also learnt that the civic body is now planning to widen the road by 80 feet. The work is being delayed and commuters are affected,” added Patil.
On January 17, 2019, Vasant Shingote, 50, a Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Transport (KDMT) driver collapsed on the Katemanivali- Ganpathi chowk in Kalyan (East). Local politicos who reached the spot after the incident claimed the autorickshaw was caught in congestion which delayed his arrival in the hospital.
Since 2000, the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) officials have been working on widening the road extending from Katemanivali Naka to Ganpathi chowk – Siddharth Nagar to Tisgaon Naka, to ease congestion on the road. However, the residents and shop owners protested against it and demanded the KDMC to first tend to the people who were affected by a demolition drive conducted in 2000.
The strike was initiated by Shiv Sena party workers and social groups.
