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Journalism of Courage
The Maharashtra government has decided to relocate the Dahisar toll plaza, which stands on the entrance of Mira-Bhayandar now, to a location near the nursery in front of the Versova bridge, around 2 km ahead. The relocation is expected to be done before Diwali, coming as a relief to people travelling to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
The move comes after persistent complaints regarding prolonged traffic jams and fuel loss due to the toll plaza’s current position. The plan was approved at a review meeting presided over by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday.
Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik stated that the toll plaza had turned into a bottleneck causing hours-long traffic issues and air pollution.
“While entering the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the Dahisar toll plaza on the border of Mira-Bhayandar city is creating very heavy traffic congestion, resulting in wastage of fuel unnecessarily,” he added.
The problem has been especially intense for over 1.5 million Mira-Bhayandar, Dahisar, and Thane residents, along with thousands of people travelling to Mumbai in cars.
As directed by Shinde, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) will now submit to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) a proposal to shift the toll plaza. After approval, the shift will be finally cleared by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The relocation will take one to one and a half months.
Sarnaik added that the current setup was deteriorating air quality in the vicinity. “Pollution from vehicles is also harming the environment.
Thus, the Dahisar toll plaza will be relocated roughly 2 km ahead of where it currently stands, opposite the Versova bridge, mostly before Diwali,” he added.
Officials indicated that the relocation of toll booths, the construction of lanes, and traffic diversion measures would be undertaken forthwith after they obtained the requisite clearances.
Dahisar MLA Prakash Surve; Manoj Jindal, Deputy MD, MSRDC; NHAI officer Suhas Chitnis; Niket Kaushik, Commissioner of Police, Vasai-Virar; and Virendra Mhaiskar of IRB Infrastructure Developers were present at the review meeting.
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