Tough days ahead for commuters on Peddar Road

Deputy municipal commissioner,DL Shinde said that technical scrutiny of the spot for the bridge was done on Wednesday. “There is hardly any space for the installation of the bridge. At a time,only three vehicles can pass through the bridge with a maximum speed of 20 km,” he said. Defence personnel have also informed that making and dispatching of the bridge will take at least two months. “Considering all these factors,it was not feasible to go for the Bailey bridge technique and the idea was dropped,” he said.

Peddar Road was to be closed for 25 days starting from March 29 to undertake the repair work between Gamadia and Mahalaxmi junction on a 250 metre stretch so that before the old and dilapidated pipes are replaced before the onset of monsoon. The pipelines have already collapsed twice in the past and if not replaced now,there are high chances of the road caving in. However,a day after the work began on Sunday,the BMC had to stop the digging and resurface the stretch following complaints from CM Ashok Chavan and many other politicians and VIPs.

Admitting to traffic chaos and mismanagement,Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak said that the civic administration had thought citizens would allow the work to continue unhindered. He said that the civic administration had underestimated people’s opposition.

“Although the Peddar Road residents are not opposed to the plan,there are many others who use the road and found it difficult to commute,thus resulting in opposition,” he said. Civic officials,meanwhile,are trying to work with the traffic police to ensure that once the work starts after April 30,people do not face much problem. “This time,examinations were being held in three schools and a college on Peddar Road,and this resulted in a chaotic situation. Although we knew about the examinations,we had not expected the kind of opposition we faced,” Phatak said.