The BMC has taken charge of the more than 7 km stretch of the Aarey Colony Road in Goregaon, controversial for its bad patches, poor maintenance and for the toll collected from motorists and even from two-wheelers, and scrapped the toll with immediate effect.
On Monday, the civic body took over the road from the Aarey Dairy Authority, discontinued the toll and demolished the toll office.
The road was with the Aarey Dairy Authority and was being maintained by the state government’s Public Works Department with Aarey funds. Commuters had complained that it was not being properly maintained despite the toll that was being collected. They had said that it posed a risk especially to bikers as, in many places, the tar and stone crush used to fill the bad patches had been washed away by rain.
From now on, the BMC will be responsible for the upkeep of this road that connects the Western Express Highway with Marol and Powai. The BMC has said that the 30-feet-wide road will soon be widened to 40 feet and will be part of the civic body’s ambitious Goregaon-Mulund Link Road for east-west connectivity.
“After completing all formalities and paper work, we have taken charge of Aarey Road and will start repair work on it from Tuesday. %The BMC will not collect any toll from commuters on this stretch,” said Ramakant %Biradar, assistant municipal commissioner of the P-South ward.
He said that while the repairs undertaken immediately will be temporary, repairs would take place on a %larger scale after the Ganesh festival.
“We had been demanding for long that the road be handed over to the BMC and had agitated five times against toll collection. Now we hope the BMC maintains it properly and gives relief to commuters,” said Ravindra Waikar, local Shiv Sena MLA.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Mumbai/From-now-on-no-toll-on-Aarey-road/articleshow/40383988.cms
Picture Source: dnaindia.com
