Mumbai: Chandivli locals to sit on hunger strike

Chandivli residents protest on February 12

Chandivli residents' silent protest in February had made a slight impact - AMC P Velrasu set a one-month deadline for tender to build the long-awaited 90 Feet Road. However, six months on, there is no progress, except hollow assurances of BMC officials, they said. "That leaves us with no option, but to register our protest with a hunger strike," the residents added.

Local residents in the area have long been demanding the 90 Feet Road to decongest the area, which is dependent on two routes - Chandivli Farm Road and DP Road 9, which are also choked. In 2021, the BMC built only one-third of the 600-metre-long road, where two-wheelers, trucks and garbage dumpers are currently parked.

The partially built 90 Feet Road in Chandivli is occupied by vehicles in February. Pic/Sameer Markande

Once known for small industries, Chandivli transformed into a residential hot-spot, with the construction of high-rises over the past two decades. "The BMC gave permission to build so many towers, but couldn't construct the road which they planned 30 years ago," Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder of Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA), pointed out.

Tender within a month

The CCWA staged a protest on February 12, which prompted Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu to finally hold a meeting with the residents on February 17. He instructed officials from the Development Plan and Roads departments to start a survey and tender procedure within a month. "Six months have passed since, and we have not seen an iota of development here," said the residents. "We have followed up regularly and BMC officials have just been giving us excuses and new deadlines. Now, we are left with no option, but to go on a hunger strike to register our protest," Makkar said.

Protest on Sunday

They will stage a sit-in on a road in Chandivli, which the hawkers have encroached, from 10 am to 6 pm, he added. "We desperately need the promised 90 Feet Road to avoid the daily annoyance of traffic jams. A few years ago, I left to drop my son off to his JEE centre that was hardly 3 km away, but it took us almost an hour and a half due to bottlenecks and jams. We reached just 5 minutes before the gate closed. He would have missed his important exam," said Priyanka Prasad, a resident. Meanwhile, the civic body claims to have started the procedure to build the road.

Process underway

"We have already started a tender to build the rest of the road. The Development Plan department has to take the land over from a private builder and a central government corporation. Both processes are underway, simultaneously. We will build the road once the land is transferred to the BMC," said an official from the roads department. "The tender is ready and already approved. The land acquisition process is not complete. Once land acquisition is complete, we will float the tender," Velrasu confirmed. The 90 Feet Road will connect Saki Naka to Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) via Chandivali Farm Road.