A flyover in Mumbai has sparked a traffic jam of political and civic commentary over its lanes allegedly narrowing “suddenly” from four to two — a charge that the government denied, but former minister Aaditya Thackeray did not lose the chance for a dig.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) responded on Tuesday to an X post by a handle called ‘Gems of Mira Bhayandar’ (@GemsOfMBMC).
The handle had posted a video of lanes apparently narrowing in a soon-to-be-opened project. “This double-decker flyover is a part of the Metro Line 9 project by JKumar and is set to be inaugurated in February… Is this how (MMRDA) designs ‘infrastructure’? (sic) How did this design get approved?”
The MMRDA official X handle replied a day later: “The flyover does not ‘suddenly narrow’. The transition from 4 lanes to 2 lanes is not a design flaw, but is based on available road width constraints, and future network planning.”
It argued that the flyover has been designed with two lanes for Bhayander East “and future connecting two lanes for Bhayander West”.
“Since the Bhayander East arm comes first along the alignment, the 4-lane configuration presently transitions into 2 lanes. The remaining two lanes on the outer side are planned as part of the future extension towards Bhayander West across the Western Railway line,” the authority clarified.
“This design enables smooth crossing of one of the busiest junctions in the Mira–Bhayander region while accommodating on-ground constraints,” it further said, asserting that “provision has been kept for future widening”, a proposal that is “currently at the planning stage”.
Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray used the opportunity to taint the BJP-led government.
“People must not make fun of MMRDA and the team that designed this masterpiece. Next year, another MoU on teaching this design to other countries,” he wrote on X. “Any such reduction of lanes is going to create chaos and traffic anyway! Guess the minister in charge of MMRDA,” he further wrote.
The chairman of the MMRDA is deputy CM Eknath Shinde, who broke the Shiv Sena and thus unseated Aaditya’s father, Uddhav Thackeray, as CM in 2022.