CM Fadnavis gives BMC the power to speed up work on 29 bridges

With as many as 29 bridges in the city shut for construction, the state government, anticipating traffic delays on Wednesday, granted additional powers to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ensure speedy completion of work.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis held a meeting of agencies concerned and the BMC in the state secretariat. A total of 29 bridges, both road overbridges (ROB) and foot overbridges (FOB), are being constructed in the city along with several Metro lines.

Besides empowering the civic body, CM also directed the agencies to prohibit cars on crowded roads during festivals and develop apps for real-time advisories on roads with traffic snarls. The issue was taken to Fadnavis by BJP city chief Ashish Shelar.

“During our meeting with key officials from BMC, traffic police, MMRDA, Fadnavis announced additional powers for the civic body. Under the provisions of the Emergency Procedures of the Disaster Management Act, the power of decisions related to the construction of all the bridges in the city has been given to the municipal commissioner. This will help the BMC to obtain sanctions, enabling it to complete construction faster,” Shelar said.

According to an officer from the state’s disaster management unit, “By such provisions, the disaster management act overrules provisions in any other act. Such powers were allocated to local bodies for widening of Mithi River and construction of Raigad bridge, which was washed away in the flood about three years ago.”

Shelar said that agencies have also been directed to tap into the idea of providing free BEST bus services for five kilometres in stretches with market places and heavy traffic congestion.

“The idea is to prohibit cars in such areas by providing free bus service. The decision has been taken contemplating heavy footfall in market places in the festival season, such as Ganeshotsav among others. The ongoing Metro construction may add up to the other types of infrastructure work and the CM has directed the agencies to consider this possibility,” he added.

The CM also directed the use of concrete overlay technology for speedy completion of bridge construction work.

The technology will be used for the bridges at Ghatkopar and Juhu Tara Road.

The government has also announced an app to provide motorists real-time information about traffic jams and alternative roads.

First Published: Jun 13, 2019 04:38 IST