Paving the way for the construction of the Yari Road with Lokhandwala, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday razed over 41 unauthorised shanties in Andheri’s SVP Nagar.
Over a decade since the project was first conceptualised, the BMC floated a Rs. 42 crore tender in November 2022 to establish a new link between Yari Road and SVP Nagar.
Currently, Lokhandwala is separated from Yari Road by the Kavathe Creek. With no direct connectivity between these two places, motorists have to take a U-turn via four and seven bungalow areas, which takes anywhere between 30-45 minutes. The new bridge, which is proposed in Y – shape, will pass over the creek and cut down the travel time to five minutes.
Earlier this year, the civic body had procured permissions from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to undertake constructions over the mangrove area. However, unauthorised encroachments—constructed over the Coastal Regulation Zone land over decades—had stalled development on ground. Early on Thursday, the BMC finally razed over 40 structures located towards the end of Siddharth Nagar in a drive which saw heavy police deployment.
While locals in the Lokhandwala area welcomed the drive, residents living in these structures alleged that their homes were razed without following due process under the Slum Act.
However, officials maintained that only homes without documentation were demolished in the drive.
“This bridge has been in the pipeline for several years. Earlier, in 2019 as well, a demolition drive had been undertaken to remove the encroachments. However, over the years, a lot of unauthorised buildings were constructed again. On Thursday, another drive was launched by the Collector’s office. While many people had already vacated the homes after a notice was served nearly a month ago, nearly 41 structures without proper documentation were demolished and the land was then handed over to the BMC,” said an official from Mumbai Police.
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The bridge, which is pegged to comprise two lanes, is proposed to cut down travel time to five minutes for commuters in the Lokhandwala area and Yari Road.
