Nearly after two-and-a-half years, BG Kher Road in Malabar Hill, south Mumbai, will be reopened for traffic within a week.
The road was closed on August 5, 2020, following a landslide at Malabar Hill. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials are hopeful that traffic congestion in Malabar Hill will ease after the opening of the road.
Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu said that BG Kher Road will be opened for traffic in a week. Explaining the reason why it took so long to repair the road, a municipal official said that the main water pipeline under the road had been replaced and other changes like stormwater drains had also been made.
“The technical advisory committee had suggested a two-monsoon suspension. We waited for three monsoons. We have decided to repair this road with cement concrete instead of asphalt as there are no landslides after 2020,” the official said. It is said that the repair of the more than 1 km stretch will cost around INR 50 crores.
Pramod Mandrekar, former corporator of Malabar Hill, said, this road is very useful for the residents of Malabar Hill. As it is closed, they have to use Walkeshwar Road, Nepensee Road and NS Patankar Road resulting in heavy traffic. If Kher Road is opened, the traffic congestion on these three roads will be reduced.
“Since Kher Road has a hilly slope, we conducted a soil test under the supervision of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B). It took more time. We have also constructed a protective wall,” said a BMC official.
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