The area where service road needs to be constructed to provide connectivity to residents of Kamothe towards Vashi. Narendra Vaskar
A 150-metre stretch of a service road in Kamothe on the Sion-Panvel Highway was at the centre of a discussion at a high-level meeting in Mantralaya Tuesday. According to data availed under the Right to Information Act, the stretch of the road yet to be constructed claimed 28 lives in 59 accidents since 2013, the year the road opened to traffic. Residents allege that their repeated demands to complete the construction of the road had fallen on deaf ears.
The locals said there was a road connected to the highway for going towards Vashi. After the PWD constructed a flyover on the highway in 2013, it was supposed to construct around a 150-metre stretch of service road to give connectivity to the highway for residents going towards Vashi.
However, it was not constructed then and the work has not progressed as it falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) area, residents claim.
As the service road remains incomplete, the chowk under Kamothe flyover has turned into a traffic nightmare, motorists and residents of the area complain. They say they either have to drive in a ‘no entry’ road to take the Kamothe flyover or go all the way around about 1.5 kilometre to Kalamboli to get on the highway.
Dividers have been placed under the flyover to regulate vehicular traffic. However, it leads to traffic congestion as there is an autorickshaw stand close to it. Besides, a portion of the service road taken up for concretisation has been dug up but the work has been abandoned without completing it. Amol Shitole, a resident of Ajinkyatara Society in Kamothe, said, “We have written several letters demanding the service road but neither the authorities nor elected representatives paid any heed,” said Shitole, a member of Ekta Samajik Seva Sanstha.
Dr Rupesh Vadgaonkar, another resident and member of Ekta Samajik Seva Sanstha, said that many school buses are also forced to go in the no entry direction to take Kamothe flyover to reach Kharghar, which is an educational hub. “We live with the worst fears in our mind everyday hoping that school children will return home safely,” said Vadgaonkar, adding that the area under the flyover should be beautified and the subway connecting to Kalamaboli, which is waterlogged, should be open.
Shitole further said he sought information under Right to Information (RTI) about accidents and deaths on the contentious stretch to build pressure on the authorities for construction of the service road. “The RTI reply revealed that there have been 28 deaths in 59 accidents from 2013 to 2017. Then, we took up the issue with the authorities with this data and threatened to hold a rasta roko on the highway at Kamothe on February 3,” he said. After the residents threatened a rasta roko, the authorities convened a meeting at the Mantralaya to discuss the issue on Tuesday.
“We have been told by the department that the service road should be completed by March. We are working on it,” said a PWD official adding that they have appointed a consultant M/s Fine Envirotech Engineers for a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the environment department.