Mumbai: Chunabhatti subway turns into nightmare for pedestrians

Big cracks inside Everard Nagar underpass subway

Everard Nagar (Chunabhatti), subway under the Eastern Express Highway has turned into a gutter due to a leakage. Pedestrians are forced to walk through sewage water and fear the situation will worsen during the monsoon. Meanwhile, MLA Mangesh Kudalkar claimed he had proposed the construction of a foot-over bridge for pedestrians.

Iris Carneiro, a resident of the Everard Nagar said, "Around 250 families are living in the Everard Nagar. Most of them are senior citizens. We are fully dependent on the subway. But this subway is always facing issues of leakage. Sometimes it is full of sewage water. We need to walk away from that dirty water, as we don't have an alternative."

Pedestrians fear the situation will worsen during the monsoon

"Sometimes the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), discharges water from the subway. But not daily. Also, there are several cracks in the wall of the subway. BMC needs to think and come up with a permanent solution for this issue. We have been facing this issue for a long time. Every year the situation becomes difficult," he added. Monali Jadhav, a resident of Chunabhatti, said, "I regularly use this subway but have never found it dry. It becomes extremely difficult to walk."

Rechal Tharakan, a resident of Evarard Nagar, said, "Even in summer, we need there is collection of dirty water. We can't even think about the situation in monsoon. In the past, BMC used to drain out the water by dewatering pumps. But it has stopped now in the last few years. Also, the walls are painted with spit marks which need to be cleaned. The BMC needs to take immediate action."

Husain Mandal, a daily subway user, said, "This has been a problem for several years. Even in summer, pedestrians have to walk through dirty water. There should be a permanent solution to this. Residents of Everard Nagar are heavily dependent on this subway for daily routine. Most of the residents are senior citizens. The authorities should think about them."

Sewage leakage inside the subway. Pics/Shadab Khan

Meanwhile, local MLA Mangesh Kudalkar said, "I am aware of this problem. The subway has been repaired before. But the problem is not completely solved. The water is pumped out regularly. But this subway is about 30 years old and this part is reclaimed. A permanent solution proposal to build a bridge has been submitted to the Bridge Department of the BMC. A preliminary discussion has also been held about it. After the election code of conduct is over, I will start work on it. A dewatering pump is already placed there to drain out water," Kudalkar said. Vivek Kalyankar, chief engineer of BMC's bridges department did not respond to calls and messages.

250
No of families that reside in Everard Nagar