The demolition of Elphinstone Bridge connecting Parel and Prabhadevi on the Central and Western Railway lines was postpone till Monday as postponed till Monday, after local citizens had opposed. On Monday a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Accordingly, the government has decided to provide houses to all the residents of 19 buildings in the vicinity of Elphinstone Bridge.
The Elphinstone Bridge in Parel was to be closed from April 25. However, after opposition from locals, it was decided to close the bridge until Monday. In a meeting held at the Sahyadri Guest House on Monday, Minister Ashish Shelar raised the issue of local residents before Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. "Local citizens had opposed the work of this bridge. Locals are afraid that 17 buildings will be endangered while working on the bridge. Due to this, there was opposition from the citizens," said Ashish Shelar.
After that, the government has now given relief to the residents of 19 buildings in the Elphinstone Bridge area. A total of 19 buildings were to be affected by the work on the Elphinstone Bridge, but with the new planning of the government, only two buildings will be affected. Ashish Shelar had demanded that the MMRDA should redevelop all these 19 buildings under 33(9) without waiting for any developer. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has accepted this demand.
Shelar also demanded that the residents of the two buildings whose houses will be affected should be given houses in the redevelopment at the same place instead of giving houses in Kurla or compensation. After that, the residents of the two buildings will be given temporary houses in the transitional camp in Kurla. Shelar also said that the residents of the two buildings that will be affected while redeveloping the 17 buildings will be given houses at the same place.
"Our position, along with BJP MLA Kalidas Kolbankar, is that the Marathi people of Girangaon should get houses in the same place. Therefore, today Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde have given great relief to the citizens of our Girangaon," Ashish Shelar also said.