Work on the much delayed Santacruz-Chembur Link Road that has been on the standstill for some time now due to a set of encroachments on a key stretch at CST Road has finally been cleared by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. SCLR, which is four years behind schedule, is part of the showcase Mumbai Urban Transport Project. The nodal agency of MUTP razed down 50 structures situated at Halav Pool area on CST road, Kurla west and also cleared around 70 structures in areas like Rahul Nagar and Panchsheel Nagar, which were obstructing the alignment of SCLR. The MMRDA is confident that the clearance of these structures will provide major relief to the contractors and work can take off in this area. "These were the complicated stretches that had to be cleared. Now this will be a great relief as this was one of the major bottlenecks in SCLR section I," said Vandana Suryawanshi, Chief, rehabilitation and re-settlement, MMRDA. According to her, the removal of these encroachments, both commercial and residential were greeted with protests, which caused the delay.
However, the removal of encroachments is not the end of the matter for the MMRDA. Impediments like MHADA building that falls in the alignment of the SCLR along with around five shrines are matters that are still to be dealt with. Another possible roadblock could be the difficulty in getting the go ahead from Railway authorities to the section of the link road which crosses over the tracks between Kurla and Vidhya Vihar. "The dialogue with representatives of shrines is in the final stages and will be resolved soon, while the designs are yet to be cleared by Railways," Suryawanshi added.
According to Suryawanshi, the encroachments along the stretch would be handed over to Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, the contractor for the link road, within two months. "
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