Landowners to be compensated for Kalyan bridges, says CM

MIUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis performed the bhoomi pujan of the much-awaited Mankoli-Motagaon and Durgadi bridge in Kalyan on Sunday. He said steps will

MIUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis performed the bhoomi pujan of the much-awaited Mankoli-Motagaon and Durgadi bridge in Kalyan on Sunday. He said steps will be taken to make Kalyan-Dombivli a smart city. He promised to compensate those whose land is being used to build the bridges.

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Earlier, on Saturday, before the official bhoomi pujan for the two 6-lane bridges, Shiv Sena workers led by Bhausaheb Choudhary performed a bhoomi pujan in Dombivli

Fadnavis said, “It is a project of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and not any individual, hence, the puja performed by them does not hold any importance.” The 3+3-lane bridge to be constructed on the Mankoli-Motagaon Road connecting Dombivli with Thane via the Nashik highway will reduce the distance between the cities by an hour. As of now, it takes a long detour via Kalyan or Mumbra to reach Thane.

Residents led by activist Rajendra Rahalkar boycotted the CM’s visit. “Because of the bridges, many people will be displaced and will lose their land. This will lead to heavy traffic. We want the CM to reroute the bridge,” Rahalkar said.