Newly-opened BKC-Chunabhatti flyover cuts short travel time, elated Mumbaikars thank Fadnavis

Thanks to the four-lane BKC-Chunabhatti connector that was made operational on Sunday evening, the commuters using the flyover can avoid traffic congestion at Dharavi and Sion junctions and save 30 minutes of their journey time

Mumbaikars travelling to and from Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) or Eastern Express Highway can now reach their destination faster. Thanks to the four-lane BKC-Chunabhatti connector that was made operational on Sunday evening, the commuters using the flyover can avoid traffic congestion at Dharavi and Sion junctions and save 30 minutes of their journey time, announced Maharashtra’s caretaker Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

“This 1.6-km long, 17-metre wide and 4-lane Bandra-Kurla Complex to Chunabhatti Connector will also ease traffic towards Thane-Nashik and Panvel-Pune.  This 4-lane Connector will also provide faster connectivity to and from the Eastern Express Highway,” he added.

The fish-belly shaped elevated corridor will pass through BKC, Babubhai Compound, Central Railway (near Scion), Duncan Colony, Harbour Line (Chunabhati station) and Sumaiya ground, before culminating at Eastern Express Highway. This is “yet another step towards bringing ease in living for Mumbaikars”, Fadnavis remarked.

How Mumbaikars reacted?

In a city, quite known for its traffic logjams, residents too seem to be happy with the initiative and have been tweeting out their experiences since morning.

Viji Venkatesh, Region Head, South Asia, The Max Foundation, tweeted that she travelled from Priyadarshini from BKC in just five minutes.

Another Mumbaikar thanked Fadnavis for gifting the city the connector as she described how hard it was to believe that she reached Western Express Highway to Eastern express Highway in just 10 minutes during the peak office hours.

Another Twitter user wrote that she started from Chunabhatti and was in BKC within 5 minutes.

The long wait and protest

However, the project was a long-pending one had missed several deadlines before it finally opened for the public on Sunday. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority planned the project in 2014 at an estimated cost of Rs 156 crore. The aim was to give motorists direct connectivity from BKC to Eastern Express Highway. In October, NCP workers led by its party chief Nawab Malik had gathered on the flyover to forcibly open the corridor. However, they withdrew the protest after MMRDA assured that the road would be opened within a week.

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