The long-delayed Thakurli flyover and connecting road corridor have moved closer to construction after the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation demolished 86 houses and huts in Santwadi and Mhasoba Nagar near Thakurli East railway station. The residents were shifted to homes under a slum rehabilitation scheme in Kachore, clearing structures that had obstructed the planned alignment for nearly a decade.
The demolition was carried out by the civic body’s F ward on Monday and Tuesday with the assistance of earthmoving machinery, according to a report by Loksatta. The structures had stood in the area for about 40 years. The action followed the reported resolution of the rehabilitation issue involving the 86 residents.
The affected stretch forms part of the Thakurli flyover route from S. V. Joshi School to the Thakurli railway crossing and onward to the Mhasoba Chowk section on the 90-foot road. The flyover project is being implemented by the municipal corporation through the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.
The project has remained stalled for around 10 years because the municipal corporation had not cleared encroachments along the proposed route, preventing the MMRDA from carrying out the work. The report also said the project had faced delays because of a lack of funds. The flyover is intended to provide a grade-separated connection between the school, railway crossing and the 90-foot road corridor.
The rehabilitation of the 86 residents was taken up through a slum rehabilitation project in Kachore. The relocation addresses the immediate displacement issue linked to the clearance, while also allowing the civic body to remove the structures from the planned infrastructure alignment. The supplied report does not provide details of the size, tenure status or possession schedule of the replacement homes.
The Santwadi and Mhasoba Nagar settlements have faced enforcement action before. Railway authorities demolished huts in the area around 24 years ago, making the recent clearance the second major demolition drive reported at the site. The latest action connects a long-running settlement and rehabilitation issue with the implementation of a regional transport project.
Local BJP MLA and state party president Ravindra Chavan, along with corporator Dipesh Mhatre, had pursued the matter with the MMRDA to move the flyover project forward, according to the report. With the encroachments now removed and the residents shifted to the Kachore rehabilitation scheme, the next reported step is for the authorities to resume work on the stalled flyover and its connecting road section.
