The Shivaji statue and the fort model at Shivaji Chowk, Deonar, will remain unaffected by the crossing of the Metro 2B corridor (DN NagarBandra-Mankhurd) and the Eastern Freeway at the traffic intersection. An official from Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is building the Metro line, said that the pillars of the Metro corridor at the intersection will not be placed in the middle, but to the north of the imitation fort. As per plan, the Metro line will pass under the Freeway, which goes 22 metres above the Chowk, its highest elevation.
“Just for the duration of the work to erect four Metro pillars, we would need to remove minor portions of the Shivaji statue-cum-fort complex’s compound walls. Once the Metro pillars are placed, which would be six months from March-end, the walls will be restored, along with its aesthetics,” said a senior engineer working on the Metro project.
“Our only fear is that shifting and putting back underground utilities during the work might result in delays.” The height of the Metro corridor at the intersection will be 10 metres, which would mean a 7.5-metre gap between the 22- metre-high Freeway and the 4.5-metrehigh Metro rake’s roof. “Accounting for overhead equipment (OHE), a safe gap of 6.5 meters will be left between the OHE-cum-rake and the base of the Freeway,” said an MMRDA official.
Incidentally, the Shivaji Chowk stretch of the Freeway makes it the city’s highest flyover. The portion of the Metro 2B corridor that is being constructed along the recently beautified Shivaji Chowk will connect Charkop in the west to Mankhurd in the east via Bandra and Kurla.