‘Expressway is for mature drivers’
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said that the Mumbai-Pune Expressway is for mature drivers and people should drive carefully. Mr Chavan spoke during the inauguration of the partially-complete Panvel Flyover, and claimed that the structure was ready for the motorists.
Speaking about the fatal accidents on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Mr Chavan said, “Expressways command mature driving. They need to be used with great responsibility. I appeal to all people to drive responsibly on the Expressway.”
Although officials had briefed Mr Chavan that the flyover was ready, a walk on the structure presented a different picture. The work on the entry and exit ramps in the middle of the flyover, or the ones just outside the Panvel state transport bus depot, are far from complete.
When Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation vice-chairman Bipin Shrimali was asked about the incomplete flyover, he replied, “These works will be completed and they aren’t ready due to consequential reasons.”
These “consequential” reasons include the rehabilitation and resettlement of the occupants of hutments living under the flyover, commercial structures of bus operators and food joints that are refusing to move out.
This 1.945 km-long flyover has been constructed under the extended Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project (MUIP) of the MMRDA.
The flyover was approved by former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in 2007, and JMC Projects constructed it at a cost of `185.27 crore.
The MMRDA is constructing 14 more flyovers, 17 roads and three creek bridges in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region under the extended MUIP.
Raigad guardian minister Sunil Tatkare pointed out that there might be traffic jam towards the Goa-end of the flyover as it becomes a bottleneck. “We will assess the situation for a few weeks; if there is a problem, then we may start work on two more flyovers towards the Goa-end,” said S.V.R. Srinivas, additional metropolitan commissioner.
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