Andheri subway will be 60ft wide soon

Think of Andheri, and you think of its maddening traffic. The intersection of SV Road and Andheri subway is one of the most notorious choke points in the city. Believe it or not, it could become a thing of the past in two months.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to upgrade and widen the stretch to improve traffic and pedestrian movement. So, on Thursday, the local municipal office razed shops blocking the subway.
Ramesh Pawar, assistant commissioner, K-West ward, said that eight shops came in the way of widening the subway. "A 60-ft wide stretch had been earmarked in the road line finalised in 1973. But the stretch could not be developed to prescribed width because of these structures."
Determined to remove the bottleneck, the local ward office served notices on the shopkeepers two months ago, asking them to prove the legality of their structures. The shopkeepers submitted documents like telephone and electricity bills, but Pawar claimed that none could prove that they existed before the 1964 datum line.
A demolition squad, assisted by the police, tore down the structures. Pawar said the affected shopkeepers had been issued alternative accommodations at the BMC-owned Asgaonkar plot in Andheri (East). Seven have accepted the offer, but one shopkeeper has approached the city civil court.
Pawar was confident that the court will rule in favour of the BMC. "Within two months, the Andheri subway will be 60 feet wide," he said.