Sharad Pawar's Party Leader Tries To Forcibly Inaugurate Mumbai Flyover

Mumbai unit NCP president Nawab Malik on Sunday tried to forcibly inaugurate the Chunabhatti-BKC flyover in Mumbai alleging that MMRDA officials are deliberately not throwing open the road link to suit the schedule of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The NCP, which won 13 seats more in recently-concluded state assembly elections compared to its 2014 tally, appeared to have taken aggressive stand on public issues.

Earlier in the day, Mr Malik and thousands of NCP workers assembled in Everard Nagar area in Chunabhatti. They were stopped by police ahead of the Priyadarshini bridge located nearby the new flyover.

Mr Malik then climbed an earth-mover brought along by the workers to demolish the temporary prohibitory wall at the newly-built flyover.

Meanwhile, officials of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) also climbed another earth-mover and requested the NCP leader to withdraw the protest.

"MMRDA officials have assured me that the bridge will be opened for traffic in the next eight days. Hence, I have decided to withdraw my protest," Mr Malik said.

He said the officials assured him to throw open the flyover for traffic without fanfare.

Mr Malik alleged the officials are intentionally delaying the inauguration of the flyover to suit the chief minister's convenience.

According to reports, the bridge was sanctioned before 2014 when the Congress-NCP government was in power.

However, its construction completed just ahead of the 2019 assembly elections.

Local residents are facing a lot of inconvenience in the absence of a direct link connecting Chunabhatti with the Bandra Kurla Complex.