Cost of project has gone up by 40 per cent to Rs 25 crore
Cost of project has gone up by 40 per cent to Rs 25 crore
The much-awaited Chembur flyover will be thrown open for traffic this July, but only after a delay of five years that jacked up the project cost by 40 per cent to Rs 25 crore. Initial estimated cost of the Suman Nagar Junction Flyover was Rs 16.65 crore in 2005, but the cost escalated over the years as the project got delayed because of several reasons, including the traffic department's hesitation to give clearance (or the right of the way) to carry out the construction work. An MMRDA source said that the traffic department finally gave them permission for partial construction where one flank of the road is blocked. 
Work in progress? An MMRDA source said that the traffic department
finally gave them permission for partial construction where one flank
of the road is blocked. file pic
According to traffic department officials, it was impossible to give right of way, which means blocking the arterial road that leads to Navi Mumbai, Pune and Goa, so they allowed MMRDA to carry out construction on one flank of the road while the other flank remained open for traffic. The MMRDA, the nodal agency of the project, last week announced that flyover would be open for traffic by July, making the life of commuters much easier who have been facing bumper-to-bumper traffic for the past five years.
The planning agency, which was supposed to complete the work by December 2006, revised the estimated cost to Rs 23.31 crore in 2008. MMRDA joint project director Dilip Kawatkar said, "Almost 75 per cent of the work on the flyover has been completed. We have decided on a July date to open the flyover for traffic. The 500-metre flyover aims at decongesting the important junction. This monsoon motorists will not have to face traffic snarls." There were several factors responsible for the slow pace of work on the flyover such as the clearance from the traffic department due to heavy vehicular movement on this arterial road.
A source from MMRDA on condition of anonymity said, "The contractor, involved with this project, was also fed up with it. At one point, he even said that he would backout from the project as he was incurring losses because of pending clearance from the traffic department." The news of the opening of the flyover must have come as a respite for the commuters travelling on the stretch, but bikers may be left in the lurch. The traffic department, which has already banned the entry of two-wheelers on JJ flyover following several accidents at a sharp curve at Mandvi Junction, seems little interested in allowing motorcycles to ply on the Suman Nagar Junction flyover. "The flyover has sharp bends which pose a risk for two-wheeler drivers. We are still undecided on allowing motorcycles on the flyover because we don't want any accidents here," said an official requesting anonymity.
11 flyovers
The Suman Nagar flyover is one of the eleven flyovers planned by the MMRDA to ease traffic jams at various crucial junctions of the city. The flyovers at Thakur Complex, Dindoshi, Domestic Airport, Malad Junction, Navghar Junction, Hindmata and Sion Hospital have already been thrown open for traffic.
The flyover at King's Circle, Tulpule Chowk, has also been partly opened and is expected to be fully functional by May. And the flyover at Lalbaug is also heading towards a May completion. The construction of the Burfiwala junction flyover too is underway. MMRDA is constructing these eleven flyovers at a cost of over Rs 500 crore.
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