Lack of funds stalls Durgadi bridge work in Thane

The work for the eagerly awaited new Durgadi bridge was initiated last year in February by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

Your struggle while connecting between Kalyan-Dombivli and Bhiwandi, Thane and Mumbai city is not likely to end soon, as the work for the six-lane bridge that is being built at Durgadi Chowk in Kalyan (West) has stalled.

The work of a six-lane bridge at Durgadi in Kalyan was stopped due to lack of funds.(Rishikesh Choudhary/HT)

The work for the eagerly awaited new Durgadi bridge was initiated last year in February by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

In the 18 months since work on the new bridge started, hardly 10% of it has been completed.

The existing two-lane Durgadi bridge, over the Ulhas creek, is not big enough for the continuous traffic flow it witnesses every day.

This leads to congestion during morning and evening peak hours.

According to Kalyan’s Right to Information (RTI) activist Sreeniwas Ghanekar, work on the bridge has stalled in recent times due to lack of funds.

“The work of constructing this new bridge has stopped due to lack of funds. Funds are not allotted to the contractors on time, which is the reason it was being constructed very slowly and now it has totally stalled,” said Ghanekar.

This new six-lane bridge will be the third bridge across the creek.

The 380-metre bridge will be an alternative route to Kalyan, Bhiwandi and Thane, reducing burden on the two-lane Durgadi bridge in Kalyan (West).

The old Durgadi bridge was built by the public works department (PWD) and opened to the public on May 10, 2002.

Since then, the volume of traffic has multiplied. At least 50,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily. Traffic jams on the bridge, which is the only link to other major cities, have become common.

Traffic jams stretch up to 2km on both sides of the bridge every day.

“The work for the bridge is currently stalled due to lack of funds. We are following this up with the higher authorities to make funds available at the earliest and resume the work,” said an MMRDA official, who did not wish to be named.

“There will be a delay in completing the project as the work is happening in a slow manner,” he added.

The bridge across Ulhas creek connects Kalyan to the Mumbai-Nashik highway.

The bridge ends near Durgadi fort and leads to National Highway 222 as well as Kalyan-Shilphata-Bhiwandi road and Thane.

MMRDA was supposed to start the work in April 2015 and complete it within two years. However, the work did not start as the tender process and finalisation of the contractors got delayed.

As the work continues to be stalled, it looks likely that completion of the bridge will be delayed.

“Sometimes reaching this bridge and crossing it becomes a major task as the roads connecting to this bridge is jammed with traffic for more than an hour. The traffic moves very slowly due to the congestion. The only alternative is to open the new bridge as early as possible,” said Mahajan Mhatre, 34, a commuter who takes the bridge daily to connect from Kalyan to Thane for work.

Another bridge over the Ulhas creek, which was constructed by Richardson and Cruddas Company in 1914, was shut down because of its poor condition. However, people walk on this bridge and a few two-wheelers ply over it to avoid the congestion on the two-lane bridge.

As monsoon nears, commuters complained about the difficulties they face while crossing the bridge.

“During monsoon the Durgadi bridge develops huge potholes, which add to the trouble while commuting between these cities. The traffic movement is very slow when it rains,” said Anand Patil, 35, a commuter who takes the bridge daily to connect to Mumbai for work.