Two vital links between Thane and Kalyan partially open for commuters

In a major relief to citizens in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) region, especially in cities such as Thane, Bhiwandi and Kalyan, one arm of the Rajnouli flyover and two lanes of the six-lane Durgadi flyover on Bhiwandi-Kalyan Road was inaugurated by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday

In a major relief to citizens in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) region, especially in cities such as Thane, Bhiwandi and Kalyan, one arm of the Rajnouli flyover and two lanes of the six-lane Durgadi flyover on Bhiwandi-Kalyan Road was inaugurated by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday. The two bridges will reduce the travel time by around 30 to 40 minutes along the Thane-Kalyan route.

HT Image

“The existing two-lane bridge cannot handle the increasing vehicular traffic movement on the busy NH-222. To overcome this situation, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) proposed to construct a new six-lane bridge parallel to the existing bridge so that a total of eight lanes will be available for motorists. Today we opened two new lanes; so along with the existing two lanes, commuters can now access four lanes,” said an MMRDA official.

MMRDA granted administrative approval to extend works during its meeting held on June 27, 2014 for a budget of ₹85 crore. After the commencement of work, the original contractor carried out preliminary survey and made a design of the bridge.

As per the revised no objection certificate dated May 9, 2017 of the Maharashtra Maritime Board, the length of the navigational span had to be increased and the proposed structural design of the bridge had to be changed. Therefore, an extension was sanctioned till May 2019 to complete the work of the parallel bridge. However, the machinery and manpower required for the construction could not be provided by the contractor.

The contract of the contractor was terminated on October 25, 2018 after a show-cause notice was issued on September 5, 2018 due to no progress of work. Around 20% of the work was completed over a 32-month period.

A new contractor was then appointed on March 8, 2019 for an estimated expense of ₹101.70 crore.

“By overcoming the hurdles encountered due to heavy rains during the monsoon of 2019 and 2020 and lockdown, two of the six lanes were open to vehicular traffic. The decongestion of road traffic on both sides of Durgadi bridge is expected,” added the official.

The bridge is 820.60-metre long and 25.30-metre wide.

“Both the bridges play a vital role in traffic movement between Thane, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Mumbai and Nashik. Now we have additional lanes to divert the traffic and this will definitely help reduce the traffic jam,” said Balasaheb Patil, deputy commissioner of traffic police, Thane.