Lallubhai Park Road gets first-of-its-kind utility corridor

Lallubhai Park Road in Andheri west becomes the first cement concrete road in Mumbai to feature a utility corridor after a proposal by MLA Ameet Satam. The 1.8-km stretch is the first in the city to have this technology, which allows the laying of various cables with cross connection ducts every 30 metres to avoid frequent digging and trenching for laying utilities like water, gas, electricity and internet cables. The road also features water line sleeves with future requirements of proposed redeveloped buildings in the area.

Mumbai: The Lallubhai Park Road in Andheri west has become the first cement concrete road to boast of a first-of-its-kind utility corridor. The road also features water line sleeves with future requirements of proposed redeveloped buildings in the area.

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MLA Ameet Satam, who had first mooted the project in the state Assembly in 2017, said that it was a dream come true for him as the Lallubhai Park Road’s total stretch of 1.8-km is the first in the city with a planned utility corridor and henceforth, all future roads in city will be built with this technology.

The utility corridor allows the laying of various cables with cross connection ducts every 30 metre. This proposal was mooted after Satam’s July 26,2022 letter to chief minister Eknath Shinde that there should be a provision for making utility corridors in road tender itself to avoid frequent digging and trenching for laying various utilities like water, gas, electricity and internet cables.

Satam had stated in his letter that the bad state of roads in the city was due to continuous and unplanned digging for various purposes.

“Also, the water department has calculated the future water requirement of buildings in case of redevelopment as per my letter in January 2023 and laid pipes with required capacity,” Satam said.

Satam in his letter, dated January 24, which is in possession with Hindustan Times, had stated,” I would refer to the work of laying new water lines, concrete roads with ducts in the entire Lallubhai Park road layout. We have to avoid continuous digging of roads and hence please ensure that the water connection sleeves with water line of required capacity for each building and society undergoing redevelopment and those which are old and may go for redevelopment in future (after anticipating the water needs in future as per FSI calculations) should be laid now only with taps which can be used in future.

Satam had also attached a list of all buildings and societies on Lallubhai Park Road layout with anticipated water capacity requirement as per the FSI potential.

Considering that old localities in Mumbai are complaining of shortage as water is allegedly being diverted to newly redeveloped high-rises, this method of having water connection sleeves with water line of required capacity of each building as per FSI calculations has come as a boon, locals said.