Pedestrians forced to use narrow stretch off N M Joshi Marg

MUMBAI:

Pedestrians

have slammed the closure of the ramp on

N M Joshi Marg

that leads to the

foot over bridge

(

FOB

) at

Lower Parel station

, as they are now forced to use a narrow stretch parallel to the road.

While Western Railway has allowed non-railway pedestrians to use its FOB to cross over the tracks, commuter Rajesh V P said, “I do not understand why the N M Joshi Marg ramp that connects with the railway FOB, is shut. There is a problem with the structure above the tracks but the ramp portion is a few metres away from the tracks.”

The situation will worsen once the

bridge

is taken up for demolition. Local resident Umesh Borade said, “There is a pathway parallel to the N M Joshi Marg ramp with access to the Lower Parel FOB to its north. But a section of the pathway will be taken over by barricades, further narrowing the path.”

Meanwhile, a private plot, Devidas Dharamdas Chawl on Datta Ahire Marg, was thrown open by cops to commuters to access the FOB at its southern end. Dinesh Jain, developer and landlord of the property which measures 1,600 square metres, told TOI that cops did not approach him for permission and he intends to move court for trespassing. Pedestrians can use another route behind Eastern Bakery to access the FOB’s south-end.

Both the railways as well as cops, though, are yet draw up any long-term plans for access to Lower Parel station once the Delisle bridge comes down.

A G Lad, a tenant of the chawl, said he was present on the plot when around 40 policemen came and raised tin sheds for entry to the property. “We have been hoping for redevelopment of this plot for around 10 years. The railways have been denying us permission as they plan on making a railway line."

IIT-Bombay’s principal investigator Pradipta Banerji said he ordered shutdown of the bridge due to “extreme corrosion”. Banerjee said in a standard bridge, if a bit of the portion falls, the other parts take the load. “In this one the configuration is so complex, if one small thing fails, it will cascade and collapse...Because it is parallel to the tracks, to do anything to that, the entire Western Railway needs to be shut down.” (With Hemali Chhapia)