BMC razes 37 structures for Ghatkopar–Andheri Link Road widening work

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC on Friday demolished 37 structures that were reportedly obstructing the AndherindashGhatkopar Link Road AGLR widening workThe action was carried out by BMCrsquos N Ward as part of the ongoing roadwidening work being undertaken from Jhunjhunwala College in Ghatkopar up to AGLR which runs parallel to the railway stationThe demolition drive was led by Assistant Municipal Commissioner N Ward Dr Gajanan Bellale on the directions of Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Bhushan Gagrani and under the supervision of Additional Municipal Commissioner City Dr Ashwini Joshi and Zonal Deputy Municipal Commissioner Zone 6 Santoshkumar DhondeAccording to officials several structures along the stretch were causing obstructions to the roadwidening project All the 37 affected structures were cleared on Thursday to facilitate unhindered progress of the workMore encroachments on Bandras Carter Road say residentsUnable to prevent encroachment on the Carter Road promenade by food stalls the residents of Bandra have now spoken up against the construction of what they believe to be a place of worship on the promenade United as a civic group named IM_PACT Citizens Movement for Environment and Civic Action the residents on Thursday complained to the civic body about losing a gazebo at one end of the promenade which has now been temporarily covered with tin sheetsIn its complaint emailed to authorities IM_PACT said ldquoThis is to bring to your attention that the promenade at Carter Road seafront used by thousands of people daily as a place to walk exercise watch the sunset sit with friends and get fresh air is slowly being misused and CRZ norms violatedhellip We find that the gazebo at the northern end is being converted to a religious structurerdquoAn online petition has also been started about the ldquoencroachment of public open spaces for commercial developmentrdquo A member of IM_PACT and resident of Bandra said ldquoWe formed this citizensrsquo action group so that we donrsquot get caught in crossfires with authorities individually due to our constant complaints All complaints and RTIs are filed via this group itselfrdquoThe group spearheaded the lsquoSave Patwardhan Parkrsquo movement in 202223 when the BMC planned to construct an underground parking lot under the open space The idea was subsequently dropped by the civic body The resident quoted earlier said ldquoAny land that is vacant is just jumped at mdash make it into a parking lot shopping plaza etc Over the past few years several such issues have come to light in the Bandra area alonerdquoThe residents had first spoken up about BMCrsquos move of concreting an open space adjoining Bandra Fort While the plan was to beautify the area and provide more space for tourists to sit around open earth was lost to concreting increasing heat in the area the residents said Following this the residents had opposed plans to shorten a traffic island near Mehboob Studio to enable large vehicles such as buses to take a turn effectivelyldquoWe wrote letters and were told there were no plans but we had seen a boardpublic notice at the traffic island parkrdquo a member of IM_PACT said adding that now the residents are afraid they would lose another portion of the Carter Road promenade An online petition has been launched with 410 signatures so far It reads ldquoWe the undersigned concerned citizens of Mumbai wish to record our strong objection to the ongoing and indiscriminate monetisation of public land in the cityrdquo