Finally, TMC starts road widening at Pokharan Road no1

After a long wait, the residents of Pokharan Road no1 are a relieved lot. The general body meeting has cleared the budget for road widening work on the stretch and the Thane Municipal Corporation has swung into action too.

This development is the result of a campaign, which started on WhatsApp by a few active citizens of Thane to highlight problems of the city. Residents raise issues pertaining to city's amenities and infrastructure on WhatsApp group called Thane Citizen's Voice, which are now being administered by the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC).

In one such instance, the long-pending issue of road widening of Pokharan Road no1 received a go-ahead. Civic chief Sanjeev Jaiswal has given a 15-day deadline to shops to vacate or relocate from the area, as the shopkeepers requested to grant them time to vacate the space. The work began with Jaiswal visiting the area on Sunday. Later in the day, he met the police officials, city engineer, deputy commissioner and other officials, instructing them to start the work with immediate effect. Removal of illegal shops started from Monday.

Toeing the central government's 'ease of doing business' policy, the state government aims to make all permissions/ clearances required from local bodies and the revenue, urban land ceiling departments available online. In a bid to increase transparency, land records may also be put up online.

"VV Chandanshive, DCP (zone V) and senior officials associated with the Vartak Nagar police station have been asked to help civic officials in removing encroachment and illegal shops that come in the way of road widening work," said Jaiswal.

Residents from Pokharan Road no1 have been complaining about bottleneck traffic for a long time, especially during peak hours, and have expressed their relief on TMC's decision.

"Our problems are being heard and officials are responding. The work order given for Pokharan Road no1 is a testimony to the effectiveness of this campaign," said a resident.

The civic chief has asked people to cooperate and has instructed the officials to take action after 15 days and start work immediately.

"We are happy that finally the work order has been given. The road widening would bring little respite for us, as we have to go suffer bottleneck traffic everyday," said Abhishek Waghmare, a resident.

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