Almost a decade after conceptualizing the project, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on November floated a Rs 42 crore tender for constructing a vehicular bridge that would connect Yari Road junction with Lokhandwala in the western suburbs. The idea of the project was proposed back in 2002, with the tender being floated in 2012. Initially the cost of this project was pegged at round Rs 16 crore. However with the delay, the project saw a massive cost escalation. Lokhandwala is seperated from Yari Road by the Kavathe Creek, and since there's no direct connectivity between these two places, motorists have to take a U turn via four and seven bungalows which takes between 30-45 minutes, depending on the traffic rush. Civic officials said that the new bridge will be Y - shaped and pass over the creek and bring down the travel time to five minutes. “The creek is approximately 100-meter wide and the approach Road of the bridges will be around 160 meters. This bridge will be a connector that will join the two banks of the Creek,” said a senior official from the BMC's bridges department. The official maintained that this project will have two carriageways for traffic movement. “The project was proposed several years back. However, due to litigation issues four years went by and not a single work was done. Due to this there has been cost escalation and the previous contractor was reluctant to work in the previous cost and as a result, we had to float new tenders again,” said the official. The officials said that after the contractor is assigned, fresh permission for environment clearances will be sought from the state government. In 2019, members from a local housing society filed a petition with the Supreme Court stating that this project would affect mangroves therefore it needs to be scrapped they have also stated that the proposed alignment of this bridge was flawed. Earlier in August last year, the SC quashed the stay. Dhaval Shah from Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Association (LOCA) said that now that a fresh tender has been floated the bridge could be completed by 2025. “This is not a very long bridge as the creek is just 100 meters wide. Therefore it will not take BMC more than an year to finish constructing it. The authorities should start this work on war footing as this project will bring a major relief to residents living in this part of the suburbs,” Shah told The Indian Express.
