In this BMC request to Railways, lies solution to massive traffic jams near Bandra station

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has urged the Western Railway (WR) authorities to begin demolitions in the two-acre land outside the Bandra station (east). The move is aimed at easing the vehicular as well as commuter traffic congestion in the area.

According to BMC officials from the H/East ward, one of the biggest demolition drive was carried out in November 2017 which freed eight acre land leased to the civic body by the WR for the construction of the Tansa water pipeline.

Assistant Municipal Commissioner of H/West Ward, Alka Sassane, who led the anti-encroachment drive last year said that once the two-acre land gets cleared of all the encroachment they can plan a bus terminal as well as a parking lot at the AK Marg (Bandra station road).

“Currently the road is narrow and there is hardly any place for BEST buses to park, which queue up on the road creating snarls and don’t even have space to turn and hence along with local councillor as well as Traffic police we have proposed that once this land is cleared Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme (SATIS) be implemented here,” she said. The civic body has also asked railways to properly repair the foot-over bridge and widen it to ensure that there is no repeat of a tragedy like Elphinstone road.

Meanwhile, a senior Western Railway (WR) official said that they have given eviction notices to several structures and even cleared some. “We are in the process of doing it. It is not that BMC has completely removed all the encroachments in the area as many have even come back. We will clear the land that belongs to us,” he said.

By Virat A Singh, DNA