Year on, Thane civic body’s proposal to widen roads gains speed

Ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections, the proposal to widen roads in congested areas of Thane has again gained momentum.

Ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections, the proposal to widen roads in congested areas of Thane has again gained momentum.

HT Image

A year after Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) first proposed the widening of 21 roads from Kopri to Majiwada, to 9m, the proposal has been put up in the public domain for suggestions and objections from residents.

The civic body has also added 13 new roads in the list as TMC’s general body wanted it.

The old city has many buildings older than 30 years that are either dilapidated or due for redevelopment. The roads here were constructed in the gram panchayat era, taking into consideration the need during that period.

With the increasing population and vehicles, the roads are insufficient to take the burden.

Most redevelopment projects are stalled in this part of the city owing to demand for extra floor space index (FSI) or issues related to the transfer of development rights (TDR). With narrow roads, which are merely 6m to 8m wide, TDR is not permissible as per the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) norms.

TMC had proposed to widen the existing roads to 9m a year ago, but the project did not take off.

An official from TMC’s town planning department said, “Even as the general body approved of the proposal, it had demanded to include several more roads to the list of 21 roads. We had to work out the roads that fit into the modification and finalised 13 additional roads and made a supplementary list. The resolution was delayed by the general body till the additional names were added to the list.”

As per the MRTP rules, there should be a 9-metre-wide road around a building to allow the free movement of fire brigade or ambulance.