Mumbai: Cost of Borivli flyover hiked by four times

Slow moving traffic near Devipada at Western Express Highway, Borivli, earlier this month. File pic/Satej Shinde

Almost three years after starting work on the Borivli flyover, the BMC has come up with a new proposal revising the cost of construction to Rs 651 crore, almost four times of what had been approved in 2018 - Rs 161 crore. The administration has cited extension of the flyover as the reason for the escalated cost.

Work of the flyover on S V Road near Kora Kendra, which started on November 15, 2018, has been pending for years. It is supposed to connect RM Bhattad Marg to SV Road junction and was expected to be complete within two years.

The BMC had approved a cost of Rs 161 crore then. But now the administration has proposed a fourfold hike in the cost citing extension of the flyover. It said that the stretch would connect it to the Western Express Highway through General Carriappa bridge to avoid traffic at Rajendra Nagar. The proposal mentioned that it would be a link between the Linking Road at Borivli West and Western Express Highway.

"There is also a need to improve the load bearing technology for the bridge's security as per the revised IS code," said a BMC official.

However, corporators opposed the proposal saying that the cost was too high and asked why new tenders were not being invited for the work. "Why is the administration not inviting new tenders when the scope of the work and cost have escalated so much?" asked Ravi Raja, leader of the opposition and Prabhakar Shinde, group leader of BJP.