There is bad news for millions of daily skywalk users, especially the senior citizens. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has said that it is not possible to construct escalators on 35 out of its 36 skywalks due to lack of space near their exits.
Speaking about the skywalk project which originally included more than 50 skywalks to be constructed across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad assured that all the 36 skywalks will be thrown open for Mumbaikars by this year-end.
He, however, accepted the fact that the authority was not in a position to construct escalators on most of the skywalks.
“As we were constructing the skywalks, we realised that at most places there was very little space for exit staircases. We did not have any other option but to cancel the plans to construct elevators since they will require more space,” said Gaikwad.
Only the Kandivli (East) skywalk connecting the railway station to the Western Express Highway will have escalators, added the commissioner.
The decision has been criticised by SP Kinjawadekar, president of All India Senior Citizens’ Confederation. “Escalators would make life easier for senior citizens suffering from various age-related ailments such as joint pain and heart problems. We insist that the MMRDA keeps that in mind. And if not, we will agitate against the issue and demand that the skywalks have escalators,” said Kinjawadekar.
As per the original plan, the metropolitan authority had planned to construct hundreds of shops on the walkways naming them “elevated shopping plaza”. The plan came crashing down when the shopkeepers’ association won a case against MMRDA preventing the authority from constructing a single shop on the walkways. The authority also had to cancel plans to construct skywalks in the South Mumbai region after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) heritage committee refused to give them a go-ahead.
When the first skywalk at Bandra (East) was constructed, the authority invited tenders for construction of elevators, escalators and security of the skywalk from various advertising companies.
The companies in return were to get advertising rights for the skywalks for a period of ten years. This plan too went horribly wrong for the authority since Reliance Big Advertising company, which bought the advertising and maintenance right at a whopping Rs13 crore, could not pay up the amount in time forcing MMRDA to cancel the tender.
Gaikwad on Monday said that the authority was in the process of calling for tenders inviting bidders for advertising and maintenance of the two skywalks in Bandra (East and West).
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