The issue of inauguration of the completed Jogeshwari eastwest rail over bridge has once again brought the ugly differences between allies BJP and Shiv Sena to the fore.
Local Shiv Sena MLA and minister of state for housing Ravindra Waikar has planned the inauguration for Thursday morning in the teeth of strong opposition from local BJP corporator Ujwala Modak. The 1.2km flyover will be inaugurated by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray .
Last week there was a loud and angry standoff on the road between the two elected representatives on the naming of the newly completed flyover, which is part of the JogeshwariVikhroli Link Road. Another east-west flyover is under construction at the Goregaon end.
While Waikar proposed the name of the late Sena chief Bal Thackeray , local BJP corporator Ujwala Modak proposed the flyover be named after the great philanthropist Jagannath Sunkersett. Modak said she is not opposed to a flyover being named after Thackeray . “I am the local corporator and the procedure is that it is the local corporator who can propose names for roads, chowks, etc, in an area. A Sena corporator from a nearby ward moved the (Thackeray) proposal before party group leaders in the BMC. There is another flyover coming up nearby , which can be named after Balasaheb,“ she said. The BMC has decided to go with Waikar's proposal.
Waikar and Modak cannot stand each other and are not on talking terms. The minister of state for housing has been keen to commission the flyover since work was completed a fortnight ago. But Modak says the bridge is not safe, at least not for bikers.
“On August 28, a water main on the yet-to-be-built-service road burst and homes were flooded till four feet.Water supply to 6,500 residents had to be stopped for a week to repair the pipe.The event also affected the bridge,“ said Modak.
Waikar said an urgency to commission the bridge is felt as both the Jogeshwari and Amboli level crossings are shut to traffic. The Jogeshwari one was closed nearly three years ago and the Amboli one six months ago. An official close to Waikar said the closures have causing a lot of hardship. Motorists have to go all the way to Goregaon or Andheri to cross to the west.
TIMES VIEW:
All public utilities should be thrown open for the public as soon as they are ready for use, preferably without any inauguration or ribbon-cutting ceremony. Waiting for bickering netas to sort out their issues is asking for too much in a city where, anyway, most projects are completed well beyond the deadline
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