Heavy vehicles to be banned on Western Express Highway during peak hours: Goyal

79 public toilets located along WEH will also be refurbished and made fully operational in the coming days, Goyal told reporters

Mumbai: Union commerce and industry minister and Mumbai North MP Piyush Goyal said on Sunday that heavy vehicles will soon be barred on the Western Express Highway (WEH) during peak hours to decongest the highway and ease traffic movement. Seventy-nine public toilets located along WEH will also be refurbished and made fully operational in the coming days, Goyal told reporters following a five-hour-long meeting with top bureaucrats and officials from various agencies.

On Sunday, Piyush Goyal held a five-hour-long meeting with top bureaucrats and officials from various agencies

The meeting, held in Borivali West, was attended by officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Mumbai police, traffic police, Slum Rehabilitation Authorities (SRA) and other government bodies, participants told Hindustan Times.

“The minister was disappointed as he was unable to find a public toilet along the highway,” an official who was present in Sunday’s meeting said on condition of anonymity. “So he started the meeting by talking about the need for good, hygienic and usable public toilets on city roads.”

A focused effort will be made to identify problem areas with existing toilets, Goyal told reporters later in the evening.

“Availability of land for building toilet blocks along the highway is an issue. So, I have asked the authorities to examine the possibility of having elevated toilets,” he said.

Among the 79 pay and use toilets along the WEH, a bulk of them between Andheri and Dahisar, major repairs are underway in 58 toilet blocks while minor renovations are ongoing in the remaining 21. All 79 toilet blocks will be made fully operational soon, with private agencies taking care of cleanliness and maintenance, Goyal said.

To decongest the WEH, heavy vehicles will be barred on the highway during peak hours, the minister said.

“I have been informed that there are 108 heavy vehicles that are used for various metro works. I have asked the MMRDA to put up large stickers to identify these vehicles. Apart from these vehicles, the BMC’s garbage trucks will be permitted on the highway during peak hours. All other heavy vehicles will be banned,” he said. “Three key traffic choke points along the highway have also been identified and will be resolved soon.”

Goyal has instructed the traffic police to implement the ban on heavy vehicles after completing all necessary formalities, an official said.

Goyal also told reporters various hurdles in the Coastal Road project – such as transfer of salt pan lands, land acquisition, and permissions for construction in the coastal zone – had been removed.

“Future extensions of the Coastal Road are planned up to Dahisar and Virar. Work on the Madh–Versova bridge has also been expedited, and work on the Borivali–Thane twin tunnel project is expected to commence within two months,” he said.

During the meeting in the afternoon, the minister directed authorities to inspect all water pipelines in the north western suburbs for damage and leakage and fix these by month-end. Ten lakes in north Mumbai will be inspected and rejuvenated through desilting, cleaning, and beautification under public–private partnerships, he said.

The minister also issued a strong directive to SRA and BMC officials to blacklist developers who fail to hand over flats or issue occupancy certificates to residents on time, and to bar them from future projects. Strict legal action will be taken against encroachment and destruction of mangroves, including against truck drivers involved in illegal dumping or reclamation activities, he said.

“If garbage heaps are seen anywhere in North Mumbai, municipal officers will be held responsible. Campaigns will be conducted through nonprofits to promote cleanliness and awareness,” he said.