DNA : Oshiwara to have its own railway station soon : Aug 30, 2007
Oshiwara to have its own rly station soon
shweta karnik
people residing between goregaon and jogeshwari can have a railway station
closer home soon. but whether they will be able to use the station is the
moot question, considering the slow progress in building road over bridges
(rob) in the area.
with the proposed station at oshiwara, property rates have changed
drastically. the distance between goregaon and jogeshwari station is around
4 km, the largest between any two stations on the western railway’s suburban
route. the long-pending demand for a halt at oshiwara is expected to bring
some relief to the residents in and around the area.
there are at least four level crossings between goregaon and jogeshwari
which need to be closed. however, before that, the state government needs to
construct robs to facilitate east-west connectivity for pedestrian as well
as vehicular traffic.
it may be recalled that in march-april residents of this area had objected
to the proposal of a station, as their daily travel would be affected due to
the closure of level crossings.
“level crossing (lc) no 26 is very crucial as it will run exactly where the
platforms need to be constructed. hence it was necessary to close it before
construction work could commence,” said pc sehgal, managing director of
mumbai railway vikas corporation.
“but as the regular traffic was being obstructed, residents opposed the plan
and ensured that the lc gate was kept open,” he said.
as a result, the railway had to slow down its pace to undertake construction
of the station. “by early october we expect to complete earthwork and
extension to two bridges. however, unless the residents relax their
opposition we will not be able to go ahead with the work,” sehgal added.
“it is true that we had opposed the idea of a station as it would
inconvenience people in the area. we had also staged a morcha in august as
the work was progressing at a snails pace. but now that we can see the
railway actually expediting the work, we have no issues even if the gate is
closed,” said kunika lal of amboli welfare residents association (awra).
the other alternative the railway is exploring is to shut lc gate 27 and
open lc gate 26.
but despite the relaxation and closure of lc gates, the railway is still
finding it difficult as the state government would at least require two
years to construct the two crucial robs. “this will indeed delay the actual
functioning of the station,” pointed prakash wazalwar, chief operations
manager of mrvc.
Publication : DNA; Section : mumbai; Pg : 8; Date : 30/8/07
URL :
http://digital.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx?edorsup=Main&queryed=9&querypage=8&boxid=30928772&parentid=47113&eddate=08/30/2007