MMRDA spent Rs 900 cr on Mumbai skywalks that now house vendors and drug addicts

The skywalk at Akurli Road, Kandivli East

Though the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) spent Rs 900 crore on the construction of 36 skywalks - including 24 in the island city and suburbs - to help pedestrians steer clear of vehicular traffic, citizens tend to shun these elevated walkways, which have been reduced to havens for hawkers, beggars and drug addicts. Activists have demanded that the authorities audit the use of skywalks, most of which are poorly maintained and lack escalators, stating that they no longer serve their purpose. mid-day recently assessed the condition of several skywalks, and the picture was grim.

The elevated walkway at Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, Vikhroli West on December 1. Pics/Satej Shinde

The 24 elevated walkways in Mumbai were handed over to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 2016-17 and the civic body spends around R2 crore on their maintenance every month. When mid-day visited the Nana Chowk skywalk at Grant Road, pedestrians could be mostly seen making their way from Grant Road station to the D ward office while the rest of the infrastructure was hardly used. The skywalk is one of the few that has an escalator. A pedestrian, Sidharth Hegiste, said it had been closed for several months.

The malodorous Sion skywalk on December 3. Pic/Atul Kamble

At Sion, the skywalk, which stank, wore an abandoned look. Two employees of the state security guard board keep watch only from 7 am to 11 pm. Drug addicts and beggars could be seen when they weren't around. The story was no different at Dharavi and Cotton Green. A foul smell was emanating even from the Santacruz skywalk, which was occupied by beggars and hawkers, on the Western Express Highway. The Ghatkopar, Goregaon, Borivli and Kandivli were similarly encroached upon while the Vikhroli skywalk was half demolished due to ongoing work on the east-west connector. The intact part, which was covered in filth, was hardly used by pedestrians. The Dahisar East, Bhandup and Kanjurmarg skywalks were also very unclean. The BMC has started repairing the Dahisar West skywalk, spending Rs 23.98 crore for this purpose.

The skywalk in Goregaon West wears an abandoned look. Pic/Nimesh Dave

Activist Speak

Anil Galgali, a civic activist, said Mumbai needs foot overbridges rather than skywalks. "It's time to audit the use of skywalks. Pedestrians are not using them so why is the BMC maintaining them? The authorities should take a final call on dismantling skywalks, which people avoid as they lack escalators," he said. Advocate and activist Godfrey Pimenta said, "These skywalks are white elephants. Hawkers have encroached upon most of them while hardly any pedestrian uses them. They aren't even properly maintained or cleaned. No one knows the reason why they were built."

The skywalk in Mahim East, which has been reduced to a dormitory for beggars. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Civic activist Sanjay Gurav said, "Skywalks were built so citizens could avoid traffic and hawkers. However, pedestrians prefer to walk on the road. Now hawkers are encroaching skywalks. I suggest that the BMC rehabilitate all hawkers on skywalks and clean every footpath. That way, pedestrians can walk easily on pavements and shoppers can visit skywalks!" Apprised of mid-day's findings, Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said, "We will look into this."