Beautifying under-the-over means traffic cops go homeless

To prevent encroachment, MSRDC plans beautification under flyovers, but some of them house traffic chowkies

Beautifying under-the-over means traffic cops go homeless

To prevent encroachment, MSRDC plans beautification under flyovers, but some of them house traffic chowkies

With the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) inviting tenders for the beautification of open spaces under flyovers, and renting some of them out for advertising, Mumbai's traffic police department is feeling uneasy.

Several of the city's flyovers have traffic police chowkies under them, while still others are used by traffic policemen to park their vehicles.

MSRDC Chief Engineer Subhash Nage said, "We have invited tenders on Built Operate Transfer (BOT) basis and the main reason is to prevent encroachment under flyovers."

A traffic official from Borivali on condition of anonymity said, "We have been using the space under the flyover opposite Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali for parking towed vehicles. A small chowkie in the same space is used for collecting fines."

Nage refused to comment on the the concern raised by the traffic department. Speaking to Sunday MiD-DAY, DCP Traffic, Nandkumar Chaugule said, "We have not received a letter from the MSRDC about the move but we are sure that while going ahead with the project, they (MSRDC) will make some provision to accommodate our traffic chowkies."

The flyovers constructed by MSRDC in three corridorsu00a0-- the Western Corridor, Eastern Corridor and Sion-Panvel Corridor are expected to be affected by the beautification drive. The space under some flyovers houses a Pay and Park facility, which will now have to be discontinued.

To recover the cost of construction, the MSRDC will permit the BOT agencies to put up hoardings of fixed sizes, at fixed locations.