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A ray of hope for Kopri Bridge expansion
Sneha
Mejari on Jul 08, 2014
Activists Mukesh Nigam, Madhu
Kotian, Sanjay Kelkar and Nilesh Ambekar campaigned for the work to commence
soon
After more than a decade of delay, Railway Divisional
Manager, Mukesh Nigam, finally gave a green signal for the expansion of the
Kopri Bridge that connects Thane and Mulund.
The Kopri Bridge expansion project was proposed in 2003 and was estimated to cost Rs 9 crores. The project proposed the expansion of the railway over bridge from its current 4-lane structure to an 8-lane structure. The junction between the bridge and the National Highway, which has eight lanes, forms a bottleneck and leads to heavy traffic.
Over the years, a blame game between the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Railway authorities led to several delays in the project. The project now costs Rs 50 crores. Sanjay Kelkar, former Member of Legislative Council (BJP), said, “We have met a number of people related to the project and it needs to be started as soon as possible before the cost increases any further.”
According to Ramesh Agawane, Executive Engineer, PWD, Railways authority's approval was important for the assignment of mega-blocks, when his team could work on the portion over the tracks. However, when PWD submitted a plan to the Railways in 2003, they got a response, along with a few suggestions, in 2004. After the rejection of the suggestions by the PWD, the project reached a dead-end.
It finally got a push when Kelkar, supported by two Thane citizens, Nilesh Ambekar and Satyajit Shah, conducted a signature campaign. They collected 1,779 signatures of people who travelled by the Kopri Bridge and submitted them to Agawane. According to Shah, the signature campaign and repeated meetings with concerned officers led to co-operation between PWD and Railways. “We have finally accepted the plan submitted by the PWD department. We need to discuss how to complete this project using minimum number of mega blocks and then the project can commence,” said Nigam.
The Kopri Bridge expansion project was proposed in 2003 and was estimated to cost Rs 9 crores. The project proposed the expansion of the railway over bridge from its current 4-lane structure to an 8-lane structure. The junction between the bridge and the National Highway, which has eight lanes, forms a bottleneck and leads to heavy traffic.
Over the years, a blame game between the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Railway authorities led to several delays in the project. The project now costs Rs 50 crores. Sanjay Kelkar, former Member of Legislative Council (BJP), said, “We have met a number of people related to the project and it needs to be started as soon as possible before the cost increases any further.”
According to Ramesh Agawane, Executive Engineer, PWD, Railways authority's approval was important for the assignment of mega-blocks, when his team could work on the portion over the tracks. However, when PWD submitted a plan to the Railways in 2003, they got a response, along with a few suggestions, in 2004. After the rejection of the suggestions by the PWD, the project reached a dead-end.
It finally got a push when Kelkar, supported by two Thane citizens, Nilesh Ambekar and Satyajit Shah, conducted a signature campaign. They collected 1,779 signatures of people who travelled by the Kopri Bridge and submitted them to Agawane. According to Shah, the signature campaign and repeated meetings with concerned officers led to co-operation between PWD and Railways. “We have finally accepted the plan submitted by the PWD department. We need to discuss how to complete this project using minimum number of mega blocks and then the project can commence,” said Nigam.
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