24 August,2014 07:11 PM IST | | A correspondent
It seems that the MMRDA has not learnt a lesson from its past experience of wasting public money in constructing skywalks as the Bhoomipujan ceremony for the proposed 605-meter skywalk – with a pathway of 145 meters – from Thane Railway Stations to Vitava (Kalwa) will be held on Monday, August 25, 2014 at 6 pm at Ganesh Visarjan Ghat, Near Nana-Nani Park, Thane-Belapur Road, Kalwa, Thane
It seems that the MMRDA has not learnt a lesson from its past experience of wasting public money in constructing skywalks as the Bhoomipujan ceremony for the proposed 605-meter skywalk - with a pathway of 145 meters - from Thane Railway Stations to Vitava (Kalwa) will be held on Monday, August 25, 2014 at 6 pm at Ganesh Visarjan Ghat, Near Nana-Nani Park, Thane-Belapur Road, Kalwa, Thane.
While the Bhoomipujan will be performed by the Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar, the ceremony will be presided over by the Minister of Medical Education and Horticulture Jitendra Awhad.
MMRDA claims that the reason they proposed this skywalk is to save precious human life from frequent fatal accidents due to non-availability of safe passage to cross Thane creek for commuters travelling to and from Vitava village and adjoining locality.
The commuters today risk crossing the railway tracks to avoid a 30-minute long walk from Vitava to Thane Station. With the proposed Rs 23.25-crore skywalk the commuters will reach the station within only five minutes. Once completed, the skywalk will benefit more than 25,000 commuters daily.
"Thousands of railway commuters and locals need to walk for close to 30 minutes from Vitava village to reach Thane station today. Many of them use the risky route, which has resulted in loss of precious human lives. The skywalk will resolve this issue once and for all," said Dilip Kawathkar, Joint Project Director (PR), MMRDA.
