The state government will also collect data on the usage of asphalt in road and bridge construction by the BMC, which was for the last 25 years led by Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, and time-bound action will be taken, the House was told.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday told the state Assembly that while one lane of the closed Gokhale Bridge, connecting Andheri east and west in Mumbai, will be made functional in March 2023, the second will be thrown open to the people in December, next year.
The state government will also collect data on the usage of asphalt in road and bridge construction by the BMC, which was for the last 25 years led by Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, and time-bound action will be taken, the House was told.
BJP MLA Sunil Rane raised the calling attention motion, informing the Assembly about the traffic jams affecting western suburbs following the closure of the bridge on November 7. Another BJP MLA, Amit Satam, demanded an inquiry into why no action was taken by the BMC when a part of the bridge had collapsed in 2018. Replying to the calling attention motion Industries Minister Uday Samant – in charge of the urban development department for the Winter Session of the state legislature – said that it will be probed why BMC delayed the reconstruction process of the bridge after a part of I had collapsed in February 2018.
Samant said that reconstruction work is being done on a war footing, as a tender has already been issued. “The BMC has already paid Rs 17 crore to the Railways. The first lane of the bridge after reconstruction will be opened in March 2023 and second lane in December 2023,” he added.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray demanded that the reports submitted by IIT and VJTI on allowing two and three-wheeler traffic on the Gokhale Bridge should be shared with the public. Aaditya has also written to BMC administration Iqbal Singh Chahal asking for the same.
During the motion, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar asked who was responsible for siphoning over Rs 22,000 crore in the name of building asphalt roads over the last 25 years. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that an inquiry will be carried out but clarified that the government will neither target nor back anyone.
Source : Indian Express
