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Kharegaon RoB to open by January: Thane civic body
Come January, the Kharegaon rail overbridge (RoB) will finally be ready for use, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Tuesday. The work for the bridge was delayed for almost a decade.
After the bridge is constructed, the railway crossing used by motorists and pedestrians to travel between Kalwa east and west will be closed. Many people were hit by trains in the past while crossing the bridge.
TMC executive engineer Pravin Papalkar said, “For two months during the lockdown, the construction work was stopped. We have resumed it now and only the work of installing the slabs is remaining. We are in the process of placing girders for this slab and shall complete the work by January 2021 and open the bridge for the citizens. After the bridge is constructed, we will close the railway crossing.”
Constructed at a budget of Rs27 crore, the work for the RoB has been undertaken jointly by the railways and TMC. While the railways had completed the work of laying the girder over the tracks a year ago, the corporation started the work for the bridge in January 2018.
The bridge will be 692.27m long, of which 625.83m will be constructed by the corporation. The budget will also be shared by both railway and TMC. For the convenience of pedestrians and motorists, the bridge will have a ramp as well as a staircase.
Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of Thane Railway Passengers’ Association, said, “We have been demanding the RoB since many years. We have also written letters seeking an explanation on the delay. Many pedestrians cross the tracks during peak hours even if the gates are closed, leading to several deaths. More than 50,000 residents staying in Kalwa cross the track on a daily basis. In the past few years, the population in the vicinity has increased, making it necessary for the RoB to be constructed to avoid more deaths in the future.”
The ground where the proposed bridge would land would have to be split into two, which the locals were not keen on. Hence, the civic body made some alterations to the plan and ensured that the ground is not affected. Similarly, one part of the land where the bridge is to come up, was owned by a firm and the matter was sub judice for many years, adding to the delay. The civic body has now paid compensation of Rs40 crore to the private company and taken over the land.
Shrikant Shinde, Shiv Sena parliamentarian from Kalyan, said, “We held various meetings with the corporation, railway authorities and locals to resolve the multiple hindrances that caused the delay. Eventually, the work had started but the lockdown led to further delay. Otherwise, by now the bridge would have been opened to locals.”