Cutting across the party lines, several members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Monday accused the Railways of not granting permission for works on the railway land speedily enough.
The work of bridges, flyovers or foot-over bridges is not cleared expeditiously and it causes inordinate delays, they said.
Replying to a question by Shiv Sena’s Pratap Sarnaik, PWD minister Chandrakant Patil said the state had sent a proposal to Railways for widening of bridge over the tracks at Kopri in Thane.
As the current bridge is only two-lane, it is leading to traffic congestion, he said. However, the Railways returned it seeking some changes. Thereafter it was resent, he said.
Patil shared the concern expressed by Jitendra Awhad (NCP), Yogesh Sagar (BJP), Bhaskar Jadhav (NCP) and others that Railways was not co-operating with the state government.
He also admitted that the cost of Kopri project may have escalated from Rs. nine crore to Rs. 60 crore now.
He agreed with Sagar’s suggestion that a delegation should visit the Railway Ministry in Delhi and hold a meeting over the incomplete works on Railway land.
The minister admitted that the problem was common across the state.
