October 08, 2025: In a significant infrastructure initiative, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has begun demolishing 357 slum structures in Valnai near the Mith Chowky metro junction in Malad West to make way for an 18.3-metre-wide Development Plan (DP) road along Shankar Lane. The project, undertaken by the BMC’s P North ward, aims to enhance east-west connectivity and reduce chronic traffic congestion under the civic body’s ‘bottleneck policy’. So far, 245 of the identified 357 structures have been cleared.
Currently, Malad’s east-bound commuters depend on the heavily congested Malad subway and Datta Mandir Road to access the Western Express Highway (WEH). Once completed, the new DP road will provide a much-needed parallel route to Marve Road, connecting S.V. Road and Link Road to the WEH and easing pressure on existing corridors.
Kundan Valvi, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of the P North ward, said, “The road-widening work is being executed in three phases. We have already completed the first two phases, and the third one is underway.” The initial phases covered a 200-metre stretch from Adarsh Lane to Gautam Buddha Road, involving the demolition of over 100 slum structures. Phase III, extending from Gautam Buddha Road to Link Road, will remove another 145 structures.
“We are following the BMC’s ‘bottleneck policy’ to eliminate narrow choke points and make for a smoother traffic flow,” Valvi added. “This road will serve as a much-needed parallel link to Marve Road and an alternative connection to the WEH.”
Of the 357 affected encroachments, 293 are residential and 53 commercial. Residents displaced from the first two phases have already been relocated to the Slum Rehabilitation Authority’s transit camp in Sairaj Guriyapada building, just 10 minutes from their original homes.
Once operational, the Shankar Lane route will fill a critical missing link, improving connectivity from Malvani, Jankalyan Nagar, and Lalji Pada to the WEH and easing overall traffic movement across the western suburbs.
Source: Hindustan Times
