Mulund residents face hardships as Goregaon-Mulund Link Road project drags on

Mulund residents are facing inconvenience caused by the long ongoing GoregaonMulund Link Road GMLR project From electricity cuts to air pollution the area that once offered a prime standard of living has been caught amidst the cityrsquos mammoth project While residents understand that such projects take years to complete people living along the LBS Marg want construction along the Sonapur junction to be completed as a priorityldquoMulund residents are always surrounded by digging First we had the Metro then the GMLR there are private companies with their connection lines There is seemingly no end to itrdquo said Ramaswamy Krishnan secretary of the Marathon Maxima residential societyMulund ColonyThe other end of the society lies along a stretch of GMLR which is still under construction midday observed that the narrow spaces which were left for pedestrians and vehicles were already being used for parking ldquoThis junction is already heavy on traffic and the work has been underway for too long We wish that the civic authorities would clear out at least this patch speedilyrdquo Krishnan addedldquoThe authorities need to think about pedestrian movement now itself If they have to dig for a subway now is the timerdquo he further said Further up along the GMLR citizens have been facing troubles with weekly power cuts for many months now At one of the residential buildings in Mulund Colony 81yearold Venkatraman Iyer finds it difficult to navigate his way downstairs without an elevatorVenkatraman Iyer a residentldquoWe do not have a power backup for the lift and the power cuts have been difficult for senior citizens like myself Since I am home all day I realise that we are losing electricity for a few hours nearly every week My son finds it difficult to work from home when there are power cuts in the eveningrdquo Iyer told middayVoicesKeziya Fernandes Mulund Colony residentldquoWith power cuts we have been facing problems with the elevator too Senior citizens in our building are held up there is trouble while cooking and our house help cannot work properly Occasionally we experience prolonged power outages We also lose our gas connection at times but we are intimidated accordingly Another problem I have been facing is safety I try not to send my children downstairs to play in the eveningsrdquoRamdas Patil Resident of Hoechst Quarters MulundldquoWe lose electricity every 23 days in the morning we donrsquot have electric backup Since we donrsquot have a direct gas pipeline we donrsquot face problems there However the GMLR work has led to air and dust pollution all around the area and many of our neighbours keep falling ill due to respiratory conditions We will recall all issues while casting our vote before this electionrdquoOfficial SpeakMaharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd MSEDCLldquoNo citizens from the concerned area have registered a complaint about frequent power interruptions There is a possibility that there could be internal wiring troubles If citizens register a complaint with their consumer code we can get to the bottom of thingsrdquoMahanagar Gas Limited MGLldquoAs a standard procedure for road diversion activities MGL is given prior intimation and the PNG gas supply of the specific area is temporarily stopped as a safety precaution to carry out the work The customers are informed in advance of gas stoppage in such casesrdquoBrihanmumbai Municipal CorporationldquoTo control pollution we are using antismog guns providing green cloth and sprinkling water on roads There is a proposed cablestayed bridge at Sonapur Jn which is expected to be completed by December 2026 One arm of the flyover two lanes from Srishti Oasis Bldg near GG Singh Rd up to Sonapur Jn will likely be functional by June The entire Mulund side flyover is expected to be complete by Decemberrdquo