Subway project on Navi Mumbai’s Palm Beach road delayed

NMMC had said the subway on Palm Beach Road will be ready before monsoon, but they have only completed 20% of the work

The residents living around Palm Beach Road, who has been waiting for a subway to open before monsoon, will have to wait longer.

The construction of the 72-metre-long and 7.5-metre-wide subway near Karave village in Nerul started in February. (Bachchan Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) had said the subway on Palm Beach Road will be ready before monsoon, but they have only completed 20% of the work.

The construction of the 72-metre-long and 7.5-metre-wide subway near Karave village in Nerul started in February. But the Rs1.94-crore project is going on a slow pace.

The officials are not sure when the work will be completed.

An official from the engineering department said work will be taken up part by part so that the traffic flow on the road is not affected. “Portions of the road will be shut for the work. Once one part is ready, it will be open to motorists and another part will be closed,” he said.

The residents, who had been demanding the subway for years, are miffed by the NMMC’s lackadaisical attitude to complete the project.

They have to go to the other side of road for fishing and farming but there is no infrastructure to cross the road.

In the past 15 years, as many as 13 residents of Karave village died and 20 injured while crossing the busy road.

“We are dependent on farming and fishing for our livelihood and have to go to the other side of the road for our work. Even our children and elderly people have to do that. But it’s dangerous to cross the road,” said Satish Patil, 42, a resident of Karave.

“We have been demanding a subway in the area for the past several years. The NMMC officials are aware of our problems. They are spending crores on parks, gardens and other beautification projects but they are delaying a project which will ensure our safety,” he said.