NCP's Nawab Malik commandeers JCB to forcibly open Mumbai flyover

A very strange situation arose in Mumbai on Sunday morning when Nawab Malik, NCP's Mumbai chief and MLA from Anushakti Nagar, tried to open a flyover with the help of a JCB, forcibly. To prevent them from doing this, police and administration officials also climbed on a second JCB and kept talking to Malik. However, following the administration's assurances, Nawab Malik retreated and gave a week's time to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to open the flyover.

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"MMRDA and Maharashtra govt harassing people," says Malik

Speaking to media, Nawab Malik said, “I had a word with MMRDA Commissioner and he said that some signal work hasn't been completed. It will be completed within a week. We've been assured that the bridge will be opened for public within a week. If it's not opened within a week, without any announcement we'll remove the pillars and open it.”

On Saturday, Nawab Malik addressing press brief had threatened that the flyover connecting the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Chunabhatti will be thrown open to the public on October 27. Malik further said, “Our government opened the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections without any ceremony when the code of conduct was imposed, so that there was no inconvenience to the  public.” He also stated that several infrastructure projects in Mumbai were constructed in the 15-year Congress-NCP regime, from 1999-2014 but this one project, announced in 2015, has been consistently missing deadlines because of one impediment or the other. This incomplete project is causing Mumbaikars to suffer a  lot. Both, the MMRDA and the Maharashtra government, are harassing the people.

Flyover expected to reduce travel time by 30 minutes

The inauguration of the flyover was stalled for nearly two months and in the past month because of the model code of conduct being put in place, ahead of the assembly polls. The new government was expected to ceremonially inaugurate the flyover after which it would be open for public use. Both Sion and BKC are known for the worst traffic snarls in the city. For instance, to cover barely five kilometres on the Santacruz-Dharavi Link Road, it takes more than 45 minutes. The flyover is expected to reduce this taxing commute time by least 30 minutes, during peak hours.

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