Thane: Experts and activists have raised serious concerns about recent proposed modifications to the Metro 4 and Ghodbunder Highway widening projects, warning that these changes if implemented would inflate costs unnecessarily and delay the metro’s opening.Transport minister Pratap Sarnaik recently announced plans to build a transport hub beneath eight metro stations between Kapurbawdi and Gaimukh on Ghodbunder Highway, reserving the extreme left two lanes exclusively for public transport vehicles. The ambitious highway widening project, which is being executed at a cost of Rs 600 crore and involves hacking scores of trees along the route, threatens to prove useless if the modifications are implemented, as it seems like an indirect way to reinstate service roads, argued experts.“The core issue lies in a lack of coordination between MMRDA teams handling the highway widening and metro projects separately. The elevated station stairways were found to be landing in the middle of the highway after the expansion, which involved merging service lanes and removing medians where bridges were originally meant to be built, exposing the planning oversights. How come MMRDA engineers failed to spot such an obvious design flaw?” questioned a resident.“I alerted the administration before, but it went unheard. Why is the state pushing for the project despite being informed of its potential ineffectiveness? Is the project and modifications being executed to favour contractors? If executed at this stage, the modifications could also impact the schedule of the Metro 4 route opening,” feared Naresh Manera, Thane Shiv Sena (UBT) functionary.“What was the point of rushing into the project and killing the trees for no reason if they wanted to later reinstate the service lanes? This is a complete wastage of public money. Who will take responsibility for the unnecessary loss of green cover and money?” questioned a local environment activist.
