Slow CR to blame for link road delay: MMRDA

The MMRDA has blamed Central Railway (CR) for delaying the languishing Santacruz-Chembur Link Road. HT reports.

The MMRDA has blamed Central Railway (CR) for delaying the languishing Santacruz-Chembur Link Road.

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The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said, in response to a query under the Right To Information (RTI) Act that CR’s delay in granting approval for work such as installing girders for the bridge and the shifting of utilities from the main railway line has stalled the project.

The authority told an RTI activist Anil Galgali early this month that if CR gives approval for the work to be done on the main line corridor within a month, the road might be built by October 31 next year.

The MMRDA said that as 60% of the project passes through CR’s jurisdiction the delay in seeking approval for designs and maps, and permission for commencing work has affected the pace of the process.

The project worth Rs.435-crore started in 2003 and was expected to be completed by 2005. Other hurdles such as the widening of the road from 30 to 45.7 meters and the rehabilitation of nearly 4,000 project-affected families have caused it to lie incomplete as well.

Galgali has now put in a petition against CR general manager Subodh Jain. “The project will save fuel consumption worth around Rs.320 crore annually. Considering the huge cost of construction and the benefit in terms of fuel savings and pollution control, the CR needs to clear all the pending approvals immediately,” Galgali wrote to Jain early this month.

Subodh Jain refused to comment on the RTI query.