Bhayandar subway is ready, but waiting for a ‘ busy’ Fadnavis to inaugurate it?

After missing multiple deadlines for over a decade, the much-needed Jesal Park subway which would link the east and west side of Bhayandar, stands completed for nearly a month now.

However, the newly constructed facility is waiting for its formal opening as the BJP governed Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) apparently wants Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to inaugurate it, but owing to his hectic schedule, the subway’s inauguration ceremony has been kept on hold, sources revealed.

As thousands of motorists are forced to use the lone flyover, which is about 3 kilometers away from the railway station, entailing an additional round trip of 6 kilometers, their only solace was that their troubles would be over as soon as the subway was opened.

Planned in 2001, the project after witnessing a series of flip-flops, finally started taking shape in 2011 when Pune based Ghai Construction Ltd. took up the task using the innovative Pipe Arch Method (Micro Tunneling), a technology which allows trains to travel at their normal speed during construction work.

Though the project was initially said to cost Rs.43 crore, the 2-way subway project witnessed a price escalation of nearly Rs 25 crore owing to various factors including- delays in getting sanctions, change of technology from box jacking to micro-tunneling and an increase in the length of railway platforms.

This apart from an estimated expenditure of Rs 30 crore towards the construction of approach roads and codalcharges, for maintenance and ensuring that work is being done as per Indian Railway’s specifications.

The 76-metre long and 7.5 metre wide subway has been constructed on the Virar end of the suburban section of the Mumbai division of the Western Railway. Earlier designed to accommodate a pavement for pedestrian, the project went back to the planning desk and was revised to facilitate movement for only light motor vehicles.