Delayed Flyover Construction at Ghodbunder Road

State Highway 42 commonly referred as ‘Ghodbundar Road’ started the construction of three flyovers at Waghbil, Patlipada and Manpada under the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) on 21^st September, 2010 and halted for a while as the forest department had put brakes on the ongoing infrastructure projects in Thane.

          

The forest department claimed that the construction of the three flyovers was violating the Private Forest Act. The private contractors hired by MSRDC were Valecha Engineering Ltd. The contractors had been directed to stop the work till they get the approval from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

         

The three flyovers being built by the MSRDC at Manpada, Waghbil and Patlipada junctions is to ease the heavy vehicular traffic driving in and out of Thane. The work on the flyovers began one year back and was scheduled to be completed by January 2011. However, the project has been extremely delayed and till date just about 10- 20 per cent of the work has been completed.

          

The Ghodbunder Road is one of the major roads leading out of Thane city and that connects the Eastern Express Highway which becomes National Highway 3 at Thane and the Western Express Highway becomes the National Highway 8 leading to Gujarat and also the growth of Thane city due to the rapid industrialization, infrastructure development, real estate and property demand, increase in population, change in lifestyle and recreations like Suraj Water Park and other resorts resulted in a phenomenal increase in road traffic on this link and so the MSRDC took the step of widening the road. In 2002, they completed building footpaths along with the widening of the Chenna Bridge. The notification for collecting the toll was issued by the Government of Maharashtra from 1^st December, 2002.

          

The ‘stop work’ notice further delayed the work on the flyovers which turned to be a nightmare for the residents going up and down for jobs as the areas where work had been going on with cement boulders, cranes and dug up patches was at a standstill leading to a very rough time for the residents travelling in the heavy traffics.

         

 A working resident in Waghbil said, “the delay in these constructions of flyovers makes me delayed to my work daily especially now in the rainy season. However early I leave home for work I end up getting stuck in the heavy traffic caused because of this incomplete construction.”

         

Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik took up this issue and questioned the Government making it a major controversy. He told the Times of India "The realization that these projects are going on over private forest land dawned on the forest department only recently. Why did they remain silent for two years?" He added that “if these flyovers are in violation of the law, then the entire Ghodbunder road is illegal and if that be the case, then the toll collection centre on this road is equally bad in law."

          

 A forest official told that there was a doubt about this entire construction coming under the private forest area for a very long time but the Supreme Court resolved this issue in 2007 only. And afterwards the ownership of these plots was given to the forest department. He added saying “the forest department has been asking the MSRDC and the MMRDA and the private contractors to obtain the approval for the flyover from the centre but none of them is bothered to do so. A public infrastructure project can come up on private forest land only if they are provided with an approval by the forest department authorities.’

         

The Times of India carried an article saying that the District Guardian Minister Ganesh Naik directed the forest officials to give an approval for the ongoing flyover construction at Waghbil, Patlipada and Manpada. "Lakhs of motorist use this road every day and stopping work on an ongoing project will needlessly delay it. With all responsibility I direct the forest officials to issue orders to resume the work on the flyovers. If there is any administrative or legal issue I am prepared to face it but a public project cannot be suspended for so long,' Naik told the officials at the meeting of the District Planning and Development Committee (DPDC) meeting.

         

One of the MSRDC engineer said that the work order for the project has been issued and the field work is expected to commence soon. The work for constructing the four-lane 1,300 metres flyover has been awarded to Valecha Engineering Ltd. at an estimated cost of Rs 131Crore. The construction of the three flyovers at Waghbil, Patlipada and Manpada would be wrapped up by the end of 31^st December, 2012.

        

  The flyover at Manpada will be 434 m long with approaches of 63 m long and 21 m using fish belly shaped box girder superstructure on architecturally shaped RCC piers over piles or open foundation.

         

The flyover at Patlipada will be 395 m long with approaches of 122 m long and 153 m using fish belly shaped box girder superstructure on architecturally shaped RCC piers over piles or open foundation.

          

The flyover at Waghbil will be 455 m long with approaches of 195 m long and 110 m using fish belly shaped box girder superstructure on architecturally shaped RCC piers over piles or open foundation.

         

A resident at Patlipada said “the flyovers will not only ease the traffic at Ghodbunder Road but will also give a big boost to the real estate prospects of these areas. Thanks to the improving connectivity.”

          

A resident of Hiranandani at Patlipada said “when it comes to the residential projects on Ghodbunder Road, today the biggest limit for home buyers is the long distance from Thane station. Whether you are taking a bus to the railway station or driving up to Mumbai, the Kapurbawadi and Manpada junction are always a nightmare to negotiate. With the new flyovers the traffic will zoom over the bottlenecks and the travelling time will hopefully be reduced.”

          

Initially a trial bore was dug up to check the nature of the soil and rocks below the road. Depending on the nature of soil and rock, the depth of the foundation for the piers to support the flyover will be decided.

          

The Kapurbawadi area holding major traffic in Thane will have another flyover divided into three other routes one joining the flyover at Cinewonder, second will be to the Bhiwandi Road and the last one will be joining the Mumbai Nasik Highway intersecting the Ghodbunder Road leading to Surat through the Manpada flyover.

         

 Besides these three flyover projects, earlier an announcement was made that other than these three flyovers at Waghbil, Patlipada and Manpada, the MSRDC would also fund for the construction of another three flyovers at Meenathai Thackeray Chowk, Hariniwas area and the Telephone Exchange area.

          

The MSRDC said that they had even planned to construct 10 foot over bridges on the Ghodbunder Road stretch as people have problem crossing the busy street at Ghodbunder Road. The FOBs (Foot Over Bridge) will be constructed at a 6-metre height while its width will be 3 m. The FOB will hence ensure the safety of the people. Residents have been demanding for FOBs in the area since quite some time now and their demands have finally been met. The tenders have also been invited. The areas where the FOBs will come are The Tatvagyan Vidyapeeth, R-Mall, Brahmand chowk, Muchala Polytechnic College, Kasarwadavli, Ovala, Bhaynderpada, Gaimukh Junction, Waghbil and The Fountain Hotel. The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) had also invited tenders for seven FOBs in the city, including the existing two FOBs, one at Dnyansadhana College and the other at Louiswadi on the Eastern Express Highway. So in all, the city will have a total of 17 FOBs. The budget for the FOBs will be around Rs11 Crore. The FOBs will have escalators and lifts which will be able to cater to around 10-12 people at a time. It will also be very useful for the physically challenged and senior citizens.

          

The official at MSRDC said that the project of FOB would delay a bit because of the delay in the construction of the three flyovers at Waghbil, Patlipada and Manpada. Most of the lanes are shut down due to the ongoing flyover construction work. And the construction of the FOBs will not coincide with the ongoing flyover work.

 A resident at Waghbil said that it is very difficult to cross the road, which is actually a highway, and especially for young children, but now it will be much easier and safer once the FOBs are constructed.

Finally the construction of the flyovers at Waghbil, Patlipada and Manpada has resumed and is estimated to be completed on the eve of New Years after which the construction of FOB’s will start. Seems, the residents of Waghbil, Patlipada and Manpada are going to have a great New Year ahead. The residents expect nothing but to reduce the congestion on the busy Thane Ghodbunder Road.