Jogeshwari to Vile Parle commute to get easier as BMC demolishes chawl on SV Road

BMC demolished 14 structures of a chawl near JP Road junction in Andheri West for road widening. The part of SV Road will be widened by 25 feet.

Mumbai: For erstwhile Gokhale road commuters, the travel from Jogeshwari towards Vile Parle will be made easy, as an entire chawl abutting SV Road near JP Road junction in Andheri West was demolished by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday.

HT Image

Fourteen ground-plus-one structures of a chawl, which created a traffic bottleneck were razed for road widening near JP Road junction of SV Road.

“It was a mix of residential and commercial structures. We demolished eight structures, which were not eligible. We will accommodate commercial establishments in the nearby municipal market based on Kurar pattern and those who are fully affected, will be given alternate accommodation,” said a civic official from K west ward.

The part of SV Road, where the chawls were demolished, will be widened additionally by 25 feet to become a full-fledged 90feet road. The demolition process was cumbersome, and the BMC had been issuing notices for the last one and a half years.

“We verified the documents and followed the due process of law. This road widening was long overdue,” said the official.

According to the Kurar pattern, the civic body gives the affected parties additional area to construct vertically. But this is plausible only when the affected area is more than 50% of the structure.

The Kurar pattern is a win-win situation for both the BMC and the affected parties, as the civic body saves funds on providing alternative space, while the project-affected persons, especially commercial establishments, do not have to move base.

“The BMC made a list of those eligible and ineligible structures and demolished accordingly. SV Road will be widened now. While going towards Goregaon we take a left turn at JP Road near police beat chowki. This is where the demolition was carried out,” said Satam.