The stretch of road at Miramar, opposite Sharada Mandir School is in a state of chaos. At least 20 to 30 Bhel Puri carts do business on the footpath catering to the tourist crowd everyday in the evening late hours approved by authorities with licences.
While business is brisk, Bhel Puri is served on paper plates and there are hardly any proper bins for disposal of the used paper plates and waste materials. It is essential to maintain a hygiene check by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Department for the foodstuff served so as to ensure a clean and hygienic environment.
Also, there is a metal over-bridge here, constructed mostly for the Sharada Mandir School students to cross the busy road but it is in a state of disuse and now almost abandoned.
Oddly the end of the over-bridge falls within the boundaries of the GSIDC Promenade Project.
Work is going on for a promenade as part of the beautification of this area under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation on the opposite side of the school between the Sulabh toilets and the area where Manohar Parrikar’s Samadi will come up if the government has its way. I don’t know whether this is in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone laws but clearly whoever is doing this construction work is not concerned about the students and people using the over-bridge and has left them to fend for themselves while dealing with the traffic.
The promenade project is due for completion on March 7, 2020. Until then the over-bridge has literally become a bridge to nowhere. If the CRZ laws are being violated, action must be initiated to put a stop to this project as well as removal of this useless white elephant bridge.
