Flyover may upset Raja’s procession

Rain water flowing down sides of the Rs 150-crore facility onto the adjacent roads exposes shoddy drainage

Flyover may upset Raja's procession

Rain water flowing down sides of the Rs 150-crore facility onto the adjacent roads exposes shoddy drainage

The Lalbaug flyover has been in the news for all the wrong reasons since its inauguration. If the Rs 150-crore flyover, which developed potholes within days of its inauguration last month, earned the wrath of motorists for 'shoddy work', it now seems set to offend the God, too. Whenever it rains, a huge stream of water falls from the flyover on the road near Lalbaugcha Raja Trust, raising concerns that it may cause inconvenience to devotees who have to stand in queues for hours to offer prayers during the Ganapati festival, scheduled on September 1.

Bridge under trobuled waters: The Lalbaug flyover has been in the
eye of the storm ever since its inauguration last month, earning it the
wrath of motorists. Pic/Bipin Kokate

According to members of Lalbaugcha Raja trust, if the MMDRA does not take notice of the problem and fails to fix it in time, water falling with immense force from the flyover may literally pour cold water on their plans to organise the festival smoothly. Pratibha Tulaskar, who comes from Goregaon every year to Lalbaug to offer prayers to Lalbaugcha Raja, said, "Earlier, I used to leave from Goregaon for Lalbaugcha Raja's darshan, anxious over the traffic chaos, long queues and rains. But now I have an additional problem of leaking water from the flyover, thanks to the MMRDA."

The Other Side
The joint project director of MMRDA, Dilip Kawathkar, said, "Work is in progress. We will fix the problem soon."