MMRDA to construct a tri level structure with the flyover at a height of 65 ft from ground level

For the very first time in Mumbai the vehicles will ply on a bridge which will be at a height of 65 ft above the ground level on a tri level structure being constructed at the junction of Panjarpol, Chembur. The structure will be a part of the Eastern Freeway that starts from P D’Mello road in South Mumbai and ends at Ghatkopar on Eastern Express Highway.

The state-of-the-art structure being constructed by MMRDA will be a part of a trio of structures that will consist of the flyover being built at a height of 65 ft on the third level, a Mahim Kurla Mankurd Metro line at a height of 20 ft at the second level and level one will be the existing Ramkrishna Chemburkar road.

The Metro line will run parallel above the Ramkrishna Chemburkar road and the elevated road will cross the metro at the Panjarpol junction. The work of the engineering marvel has begun and is expected to be completed in a year’s time. The 65 ft height stretch will comprise of 2+2 lane carriage ways.

“Mumbai is a centre of economic enlargement and hubs of scientific innovations, therefore, for the sustenance of such a city; precedence is required to be given for solving its traffic problems. The traffic bearing capacity of roads within the city can be increased by constructing Tri- level flyovers for smooth traffic flow on busy road junctions”, said Mr. Ratnakar Gaikwad, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.

Construction of elevated structure at a height of 65 ft in itself is a mammoth effort which will undertake with the help of huge cranes, launching girders and other machineries.

Another important feature of this project is a twin tube tunnel being constructed in the BARC hill. This will be joined by the elevated road in the Panjarpol junction maintaining the same elevation of 65 ft.

The proposed trio will be a source of pride for Mumbai, which believes many more tourists will come to admire one of the engineering wonders of the 21st Century.

Traffic cops book 3,466 vehicles in pre-monsoon drive

Navi Mumbai: In what can be described as one of the biggest pre-monsoon drives by the traffic police to bolster the state of preparedness of both vehicles and the motorists, a whopping 3466 cases were booked during the drive from May 21 to June 9.

The cops checked various aspects ranging from working of wipers, tail lamp, condition of the tyres, indicators, reflectors totalling 13 sections under Motor Vehicles Act besides zeroing on to the heavy vehicles to check whether they had the cautionary signals at the rear in a proper condition to avoid accidents.

"We did minute checks including whether there were rubbers on the mudguards and the indicators were working," said a cop and added that 339 cases were booked for the rubbers not being in place. The police also booked 1729 cases for vehicles that were found parked in authorised areas that posed threat for causing accidents.

Hundreds of motorists were caught unawares when their vehicles were stopped during the drive. As the monsoon was yet to set in, many motorists were hard pressed to explain why the wipers were not in working condition. The cops said the standard answer was that they would get it done once the rains set in, but steadfast in their resolve to send a strong message, the cops booked 448 cases in this regard.

Rear mirrors (66 cases), brake lights and tail lamps not in good condition led to another 150 and 114 cases being booked respectively, besides the vehicles checked for reflectors and indicators among other violations under the MV Act. Out of the total cases booked, 2840 cases have already been compounded resulting in a fine collection of little over Rs 32 lakh.

Mumbai: Auto, taxi fares rise by Rs 2

“Base fare has been increased from Rs 14 to Rs 16, while for every kilometer, passengers have to pay Re 1 more, ie, the fare has been hiked from Rs 9 to Rs 10,” Mumbai Taximen Union president A L Quadros told reporters after a a meeting of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Transport Authority (MMRTA) here.

The new fares will be effective from June 27.

Meanwhile, the MMRTA has already approved the proposal to increase base fare of autorickshaws from Rs 9 to Rs 11. Passengers will have to shell out Rs 6.50 instead of Rs 5 for per kilometer.

The financial capital of India came almost crumbled on Monday as a strike by about 85,000 taxis and over a lakh auto rickshaws crippled life and diverted the pressure of daily commuters on the already overstretched trains and buses.

The strike was called to protest the increase in the prices of CNG and in demand of a hike in fare.

The taxis and autos stopped plying since midnight.

Reports said though the strike was called by only one union, other operators had to support the protest in fear of violence on the streets.

Heavy rains lash Mumbai, air, rail traffic affected

Heavy rains and strong winds lashed Mumbai on Tuesday and Wednesday, hitting flight schedules.

Flights arriving in the city are running 45 minutes behind schedule. Departing flights are an hour late. Fluctuating visibility is contributing to the delays. Suburban trains have also been delayed by 10 to 15 minutes.

Traffic came to a halt as the roads got flooded leading to a huge pile up of cars and buses.ater logging has been reported from Parel, Dadar, Andheri and Hindmata.

There has been flooding at Milan subway in Santa Cruz as well. Colaba area has recorded 81.4 mm of rainfall while Santa Cuz has received 59.8 mm of rains.

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) had on Tuesday people not to venture into the sea, as the city would witness high tides measuring about 4.70 metres till June 17.
Meanwhile, the BMC has decided to implement a two-tier safety and security system at the city's seafront.

The corporation will use services of 150 firefighters, while adding to its team of lifeguards at the seafront.

Heavy rains lash Mumbai, air, rail traffic affected

Heavy rains coupled with strong winds today lashed the city and its suburbs, disrupting air and rail traffic and leading to water logging in many areas.

The city received 60.77 mm rainfall since yesterday. Colaba in south Mumbai received 78.6 mm and suburban Santacruz
received 95.0 mm, the MET department said.

Train services on the Western line were running late by 10-15 minutes whereas on the Central line, trains were delayed by 15-20 minutes.

Airline sources said there was an average delay of one-and-a-half to two hours in flight operations due to heavy rains.

"The start-up delay is around one-and-a-half to two hours due to congestion caused by heavy rains and strong winds," they said.

However, the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson said, "There is an average delay of half-an-hour
to 40 minutes across flights."

Five flights have been diverted, including one Air India Chennai flight, the sources said.

Water logging has been reported at Dadar in central Mumbai, Cadbury Junction, Hind Mata and other areas, civic officials said.

Heavy rainfall is expected to continue in the city with strong gusty winds and thundershowers in parts of city and suburbs, the weatherman said.

The BMC has today alerted a high tide of 4.70 metres at 1521 hours.

"Any tide above 4.5 metres is coupled with heavy rains and is a matter of concern," joint municipal commissioner SS Shinde told PTI.

Another tide of 4.07 metres is expected at 1421 hours, the civic body said.

"We appeal to Mumbaikars not to venture into the sea and stay away from the coastline area as a high tide has been predicted today," Shinde said.

The civic body had earlier said that the city would witness high tides measuring about 4.70 metres till June 17.

In the month of June, there will be tides from June 13 to 17 measuring between 4.58 m to 4.73 m, the BMC had said.

On July 26, 2005, the metropolis saw unprecedented floods as 944 mm of rainfall coincided with a 4.48 m tide.

World’s tallest residential building at Lower Parel

The city’s skyline is all set to play host to the world’s tallest residential building with Lodha Developers announcing the construction of a 117-storey tower in Lower Parel on Tuesday. Once ready in 2014, the 450-mt (1450 ft) highrise will dwarf the existing tallest residential building Q1, which is 323 mt (1058 ft) high, in Gold Coast, Australia. The 80-storey Q1 was built in 2005.

The half-a-kilometre tall structure will come up on the defunct 17-acre Shrinivas Mill plot in Lower Parel. Titled World One, the building will be part of the Rs 2000-crore Lodha Place project which comprises two other residential towers— a mall and a commercial building.

The skyscraper will have a total of 300 apartments and will have three and four bedroom flats, private villas with individual pools as well as duplexes measuring 10,000 sq ft. The flats come with exorbitant price tags of Rs 7.5 crore to Rs 50 crore.

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Abhisheck Lodha, managing director of Lodha Group, said the project would cater to the Mumbaiites’ aspirations to a global lifestyle. Drawing a parallel with the Empire State Building as a symbol of America’s rise in the 1930s and more recently the Petronas Twin Towers and Shanghai World Financial Center representing the rise of Asia, the developer said World One would emerge as a landmark for Mumbai .

“Every global city is made memorable by its architectural landmarks. Be it the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Opera House in Sydney or the Empire State Building in New York, these vibrant forms reflect the passion and culture of the city they are located in. We are confident that World One will come to represent India’s quest for excellence in the economic and cultural arenas,” said Lodha.

The project is being designed by the New York-based architects Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, who have earlier worked on projects like the Grand Louvre Expansion and Modernization (Paris), the Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong) and the John Hancock Tower (Boston).

The luxury tower will have a three level 20,000 sq ft clubhouse and spa, 80,000 sq ft sports club and five acres of landscaping. It will also house an open-to-air observatory at a height of 1000 ft above the city providing an unhindered view of the Arabian Sea and the cityscape. The developers claim that the view from this height will extend as far as 60 km. This is the distance at which are located the city’s far flung suburbs like Badlapur on eastern side and Virar on the Western side.

The building has been registered for a Gold LEED certification with the Green Building Council. The highrise will have green features like rainwater harvesting and water recycling facilities, provisions to use solar energy for common area lighting and water heating, and facility to recycle garbage.