Mumbai: Missing safety railing at Vile Parle flyover is a threat to motorists

Motorists at risk as MMRDA turns blind eye to missing safety railing on north road of domestic airport flyover

Over the last week, motorists using the north-bound carriageway of the domestic airport flyover on the Western Urban Road, near Vile Parle, have been forced to negotiate the stretch with caution. A major portion of the safety railing on the flyover is missing, putting the lives of drivers and bikers at risk. According to locals, despite repeated complaints, no one has turned up to assess the damage.

A portion of the safety railing on the north-bound carriageway of the domestic airport flyover near Vile Parle has been missing for over a week. Pic/Shadab Khan

Two-wheeler rider and Versova resident Hitendra Pachkale, who uses the flyover on a regular basis, spotted the wide gap on the flyover, earlier this week. "Four days ago, while returning home from Bandra, I saw that the iron rod from the safety railing of the flyover was missing. This isn't something that should have skipped the attention of the authorities," said Pachkale. "If a biker riding at high speed, loses control of the vehicle, he/she could risk falling off the bridge," he added. Incidentally, when the flyover was inaugurated around eight years ago, the safety wall wasn't high enough. It was only after a biker died, when he fell off the south-bound carriageway of the flyover, that the authorities decided to take action. The then DCP Traffic had written a letter to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to install additional iron railings to prevent further accidents. "Are authorities waiting for another tragedy to happen?" asked Pachkale.

Another motorist, Dheeraj Bhatia, from Malad said, "It's so dangerous to drive on this stretch, especially for bikers. At the moment, it's safest to avoid the flyover." The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) recently took charge of the maintenance of this stretch. The public works department of the state government previously maintained it.

Hitendra Pachkale

When contacted, Dilip Kawathkar, joint project director, MMRDA said, "We will immediately look into the issue and the officials concerned will be asked to address the issue on priority."