Mumbai: Cheetah camp road project back on track after 2 yrs, encroachments remain a concern

The BMC has started repairing the stormwater drain on the MGR Road and Ganesh Kirti Mandal Road in Cheetah Camp. Pic/Atul Kamble

While on the one hand the concreting of two roads in Cheetah Camp in Trombay has just begun after a two-year delay, residents have opposed the BMC's current plans saying that it should also remove encroachment and construct the road in its actual size. Rafiqe Sheikh, a resident of Cheetah Camp, told mid-day that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a work order for both roads in April 2022. "The BMC is not doing the concreting as per the actual size of the road. There is encroachment along both sides of the road. If the BMC removes this encroachment, the width will increase by at least 5 metres," Sheikh said.

The residents said that shops have encroached on the footpath, and hawkers have further encroached on the road. Another resident, Sayyad Abdul Sattar said that the BMC has been ignoring encroachers. "If the BMC removes the encroachment along Ganesh Kirti Mandal Road, two vehicles will be able to pass parallelly. But the BMC is not serious about road widening. There is a possibility that there was political pressure on BMC officers not to remove the encroachment," Sattar said.

According to civic records, the BMC issued a work order for the MGR Road and Ganesh Kirti Mandal Road in April 2022. The length of the MGR road is around 1 KM and the project cost is Rs 5.91 crore. The Ganesh Kirti Mandal Road is also around 700 metres and the cost of the project is Rs 1.32 crore. Shiekh said that the residents met with the zonal Deputy Municipal Commissioner Harshad Kale last month. "During the meeting, we demanded that the BMC remove encroachment along the road. But now the ward office is not ready to act as per the deputy municipal commissioner's decision," Shiekh said.

‘Removal a long process'

Officials at the M East ward office acknowledged that residents have complained of encroachment. "However, the work order for the concretisation of the roads has been issued as per the current width and length of the road. There is a process we need to follow before removing encroachment. We need to issue a notice and ask for documents, then we need to scrutinise documents, and then we can decide about encroachment. It will take time. Road concretisation cannot stop till then," a civic official said on the condition of anonymity.

"Repairing of the stormwater drain has started. We are keeping the drain at the same level as the road. As of now, we have decided to start work as per the conditions mentioned in the tenders. As work proceeds, we will start a process to tackle encroachment. After the encroachment is removed, we will complete the road construction on the remaining width of the road. Since we are keeping the drain at the road level, there will be no need to divert it while widening the road," the official said. Deputy Municipal Commissioner Kale did not respond to mid-day's calls and messages.