Dinesh Kamath's news item 'Elevated road between Vashi and Airoli?' that was published in Newsband

Elevated road between Vashi and Airoli?

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: NMMC is thinking of having an elevated road between Vashi and Airoli to control the traffic on Thane-Belapur road. It has almost finished the project report. The city engineering department will go through the report before submitting it to Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority for approval.

There is a mangrove stretch from Vashi to Airoli along which the elevated road is proposed to be constructed. At present only Thane-Belapur road can be utilized to travel between Vashi and Airoli. This travel takes around 45 minutes when there is heavy traffic. In fact, most of the time the Thane Belapur road is found having traffic jams. Hence NMMC found it necessary to have another road to control the traffic along Thane-Belapur road.

This elevated road, which if constructed, will do wonders. The vehicles will then be able to travel from Vashi to Airoli in just 20 minutes. As per the plan the road will have eight lanes, and the entry and exit will be at Koparkhairane, Ghansoli, Rabale and Airoli.

This elevated road will connect Sion Panvel highway at Vashi creek side, while connecting to the Airoli-Mulund road near Airoli bridge. In fact, NMMC is planning to get this road connected with the proposed Vikroli bridge at Koparkhairane. This will make it easy for vehicles moving towards Mumbai to reach Vikroli in a few minutes from Navi Mumbai. Similarly, the elevated road connected with Mahape flyover at Koparkhairane will make it easy for vehicles moving towards Kalyan reach Shil Patta with utmost ease.

The elevated road will help manage traffic in the future which will prove to be extremely helpful after the proposed international airport comes up at Panvel.

NMMC is planning to develop more such roads to decongest traffic jam in the city. This elevated road which is likely to be constructed between Vashi and Airoli will be considered as a major infrastructure project if one keeps the future of the city in mind. NMMC is planning to have five flyovers on Palm Beach road. The Vashi and Airoli elevated road will control the traffic on Thane-Belapur road and the arterial roads as well.

But hurdles that are coming in the way of clearing this proposal for elevated road are the mangrove stretch on the creek and the existing coastal zone regulations which does not permit development works on the creek side.

Once the NMMC gets the approval to go ahead with the proposal from the right authorities, the question that will arise is who will bear the cost of the construction of this elevated road? NMMC will certainly require the cooperation of other government agencies like MMRDA, MIDC and MSRDC only after which it will be in a position to bear the construction cost.