TMC to throw open Nitin Subway on Saturday April 16

THANE: The highly publicized 220 m long underground subway project of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) at the Nitin Company junction on the Eastern Express Highway will be thrown opened for public on April 16, Saturday.
The function is scheduled at 5 pm. According to the TMC the inauguration would be done at the hands of MLA E Shinde, in the presence of mayor, deputy mayor, RA Rajeev, commissioner TMC, standing committee chairman, Ganesh Salvi, Najib Mullah, leader of the opposition amongst other celebrities.MLA Sanjay Kelkar would also grace the occasion.
The total cost of the project is Rs. 4.50 crore. The ambitious task was to complete by the end of May. The hurdle caused the TMC to extend the deadline to October then January, and later to February end. However the work was completed after a fresh deadline was set.
It may be noted that the subway was proposed in 2005 with the aim of providing a separate route for pedestrians to cross the EEH junction without disturbing the flow of traffic on the highway junction. The project involved connecting the Nitin Company junction from the service road on the east of the highway to service road on the west side of the highway at Raghunath Nagar.
The project covers a distance of around 220 metres with a width of around 35 ft. The subway duct has a height of around 2.5 metres. There are nine openings to the subway including one just below the highway in the parking area. The authorities have fixed some smoke detectors and other electrical equipments for the safety of pedestrians.
The main feature is that the subway have a provision for disabled-friendly chair lifts. Moreover, frames for advertising and full-time security too will be made available at the subway. The subway walking space was erected on either side of the highway road and only the 17 metres portion below the Mumbai side of the highway road was left to be erected.
The Nitin Company junction has nine roads ending at the spot. This made it difficult for pedestrians to cross the road stretch without endangering their lives at the hands of the passing traffic.
The floor of ceiling height of the subway is around 12 feet and its width is around 20 feet. Several openings have been given on top of the subway to allow proper quantity of oxygen in the subway.
With the completion of this state-of-art subway built on the lines of Metro subway in Mumbai, subway, Thane will add another feather to the cap.