Western Railway (WR) decided to fix the Khar subway after Union railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, who stays in the suburb, said he found it cumbersome to travel the 70-metre stretch whenever he came down to Mumbai for a visit. For the purpose, WR has been verbally assured a sum of '50 crore by Mr Prabhu while talks are underway with BMC for widening their section of the subway.
Whenever he is in the city, Mr Prabhu travels through the subway and found that what should normally take under five minutes, now takes around 20 minutes or more during choc-a-block morning and evening traffic hours.
While addressing a public gathering at Vile Parle on April 22, Mr Prabhu said, “I am aware of how cumbersome it is to travel through the subway because I’ve lived here and even in the past two days I found it very tough to travel, so I can’t imagine how tough it must be for the common man. This is why we are planning to improve this subway and we are also talking to the BMC, as even the road immediately after the subway is theirs.”
The Khar subway is used by railway commuters, public and private vehicles with an estimated over 3.35 lakh people using it every day. Back in 2001, a few repairs were carried out which only reinforced the crumbling infrastructure however this time, the plan is to demolish and build a subway that optimally uses space.
WR officials have now been asked to bring a plan to the Railway Board but officials have said that the minister has taken a positive decision. “This decision will provide a big relief to those who live in and around the area of Khar, so it will bring relief and there is a chance that the BMC will also take it seriously because the minister has said so,” said a WR official on condition of anonymity.
The bridge is an even greater nuisance during monsoons owing to severe flooding.
