After 15 years, Jogeshwari’s Balasaheb Thackeray Flyover still not fully complete

According to the plans, the flyover has to be extended by 620 metres on the Jogeshwari East side. On the Oshiwara side in the west, it has to be extended by around 550 metres parallel to the Metro 6 alignment

Mumbai: Whenever Jogeshwari West resident Altaf Qadri has to travel to south Mumbai, he takes the Balasaheb Thackeray Flyover, which starts at the SV Road junction and ends right before the Western Express Highway (WEH)-Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) intersection. This crucial intersection, which has to be crossed to travel between the city’s western and eastern suburbs, is usually chockablock.

Mumbai, India - April 4, 2025: Thackeray flyover is currently operational between SV Road in Jogeshwari West to the WEH in the east. However, the delay in the construction of the extensions from SV Road to Link Road in the west and from the WEH to Jogeshwari Vikroli Link Road (JVLR) in Mumbai, India, on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

“When the traffic situation is at its worst, it can take up to 20 minutes to cover the stretch from SV Road in Jogeshwari West to the Western Express Highway, which should actually take about five minutes,” said Qadri.

For over a decade, Qadri has only heard about plans to extend the Balasaheb Thackeray Flyover at both ends to reduce traffic congestion. Less than one kilometre of the 2.2-km flyover was opened to the public in September 2015, five years after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) started its construction.

In the east, it was supposed to cross over the existing JVLR Flyover on the WEH and end on JVLR. However, the BMC could not get the approval of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to build this section because two metro lines—Metro 6 (Lokhandwala, Jogeshwari to Vikhroli) and Metro 7 (Dahisar East to Andheri East)—also intersect at the WEH-JVLR junction. While the Metro 7 line has been opened, Metro 6 is still far from ready.

“This flyover has been under construction for the last 12 years. The BMC and MMRDA have been playing ping-pong over it,” said a frustrated Dhaval Shah of the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Residents Association.

According to the plans, the flyover has to be extended by 620 metres on the Jogeshwari East side. On the Oshiwara side in the west, it has to be extended by around 550 metres parallel to the Metro 6 alignment, along with building a ramp and an approach road. “Constructing the arm to provide direct connectivity with JVLR will substantially reduce my travel time to 5 minutes,” said Qadri.

“Piling work has finally commenced in Jogeshwari East, but that’s not the case on the western side,” added Shah. This is despite the work order being issued to contractor J Kumar Infraprojects in December 2023 to construct the two extension arms.

MMRDA had floated the tender in April 2023. However, the contractor took over a year to commence the work. The two arms were supposed to be ready within 30 months of issuing the work order, that is by June 2026.

Until then, commuters like Qadri can only wait and hope.