Title- Palava Flyover- Built in 8 Years, Shut in 8 Hours

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00:00Dear viewers, you may have heard of water-soluble paints, water-soluble vitamins,

00:05but have you ever heard of a water-soluble flyover?

00:10Well, say hello to the Palawa flyover on Kalyan Shifata Road.

00:148 years, that's how long it took to build this engineering marvel.

00:188 years of barricades, choking roads, endless detours, and next month pakka ho jayega promises.

00:24And within hours of its opening, the road started peeling off like an old band-aid.

00:30Asphalt crumbled, bitumen turned the surface into a skating rink,

00:34bikers skidded, and the flyover was shut down the same day it opened.

00:38Yes, it was shut down the same day it was opened for public.

00:43Welcome to Sustainable Development Mumbai Style.

00:46Hello, my name is Tejas and you're watching Honest Take on Lokmat Times.

00:49Before we get into how a brand new flyover fell apart in a day,

00:54hit subscribe and ring the bell icon so you don't miss us holding power to account.

00:58Now, let's rewind.

01:00The Palawa flyover was supposed to be a lifeline for the people of Kalyan, Dombivoli, Navi Mumbai,

01:06and even further suburbs like Badlapur and Ambaranath.

01:09It was part of the Grand Airoli Katayinaka Freeway Vision,

01:13meant to cut down traffic and support the swelling real estate dreams of Palawa City,

01:18where flats were sold with glossy brochures,

01:21promising that you would cruise to Airoli in minutes.

01:25Except that cruise kept getting postponed.

01:28Planned acquisition issues,

01:29fare compensation battles,

01:31railway authorities demanding changes for the dedicated fret corridor,

01:36monsoons washing away timelines,

01:38elections pushing deadlines further,

01:40and excuses piling up like the traffic jams they were supposed to solve.

01:45Passed forward to 2025,

01:48we were told the flyover would open by May,

01:50then June,

01:51then July 1st week.

01:52Finally, on July 4th, 2025,

01:55two out of four lanes were thrown open.

01:58For a few hours,

01:59people rejoiced.

01:59Videos flooded Instagram stories.

02:02Families smiled while crossing over this brand new promise of development.

02:06And then,

02:06reality struck.

02:08Traffic started moving,

02:09and the top layer of the road started coming off under tires like razor shavings on a notebook.

02:15Chunks of asphalt and loose gravel rolled around like marbles,

02:19making bikers lose balance.

02:21Excess bitumen turned the road into a black ice rink,

02:24causing two bikers to skid and fall.

02:26Within hours of the inauguration of this flyover,

02:29it was shut down for emergency repairs.

02:32And what did those repairs look like?

02:34Dumping gravel on the road to add grip.

02:37The kind of quick-fix Jugaad you see when a pothole goes viral.

02:41Except,

02:42this was on a flyover that took 8 years and crores of taxpayer money to build.

02:47So, who is responsible for this chaos?

02:50The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation,

02:53MSRDC,

02:54the nodal agency that oversaw this project.

02:57The same MSRDC that now claims

02:59excess bitumen was applied,

03:01making the surface too slippery to drive.

03:04Think about that for a moment.

03:058 years of planning crores spent,

03:08engineers and supervisors paid,

03:10consultants billed,

03:12safety audits claimed to have been done,

03:14and the final surface was so poorly executed

03:17that it turned into a hazard the day it opened.

03:20This isn't a pothole on a village road.

03:22It's a major arterial flyover

03:24in India's financial capital's metropolitan region.

03:27And it couldn't survive a single day of traffic.

03:30And it's not just the MSRDC.

03:33Contractors working on such a critical project

03:35did not bother to ensure the final layer was properly laid

03:39and tested before opening it to the public.

03:42MSRDC engineers either did not notice or chose not to notice.

03:46Local politicians,

03:47eager to show development before municipal elections,

03:51likely pushed for the inauguration without a safety cross-check.

03:54And who paid the price?

03:56You, the taxpayer.

03:57You, the commuter who risked your safety

03:59the moment you crossed onto that flyover.

04:02This fiasco isn't just about a slippery road.

04:05It's a symptom of a disease

04:06that plagues India's infrastructure system.

04:09Flyovers and roads are announced

04:11with fancy 3D graphics and bhovia estimates

04:14running into thousands of crores.

04:17Deadlines are promised like candy.

04:19But years pass,

04:20costs balloon,

04:21and accountability disappears.

04:23The Palawa flyover is part of the larger

04:26Aeroli-Katai Naka Freeway

04:28and Kalyan Shifata 6-lane project

04:31grandly promised to decongest Mumbai's lifelines.

04:34But if we can't ensure a basic quality check

04:37on a flyover before opening it,

04:39how are we supposed to trust the safety

04:41of thousands of commuters

04:42who drive on these structures every single day?

04:46We don't know the exact cost of this flyover alone.

04:48What we know is it is a part of multi-thousand crore project.

04:53But when questions are raised about delays and quality,

04:56all you get is either silence or blame game mode.

04:59On paper, MLA Rajesh Mure from the Shiv Sena Shinde faction

05:03oversaw the project attributing delays

05:05to weather and technical issues.

05:08Opposition leaders like Dipesh Matre from Shiv Sena UBT

05:11and Pramoth Patel from MNS

05:12protested delays,

05:14demanded accountability,

05:15and called for audits when the fiasco unfolded.

05:19And as always,

05:20a statement came from MSRDC.

05:22Corrective measures were taken immediately.

05:25But let's not forget,

05:26immediately meant after two bikers skidded and fell,

05:30and after yet another infrastructure promise

05:32collapsed in real time.

05:34And the worst part,

05:35this isn't an isolated case in Maharashtra.

05:38We have seen brand new flyovers develop cracks

05:41weeks after opening,

05:43roads washed away after a single rain,

05:45poor infrastructure taking lives,

05:47followed by committees, reports,

05:49and then the news cycle moves on,

05:51leaving you stuck with the consequences.

05:54When was the last time you saw a contractor

05:56or a government official face real consequences

05:59for poor construction?

06:01Ask yourself,

06:02now what should happen with the Pallava flyover?

06:04First,

06:06a full technical audit with public disclosure of findings.

06:09Who was the contractor?

06:10Who signed off on the quality before opening?

06:13What quality checks were missed?

06:15Who is liable for damages and delays?

06:18Second,

06:19if excess bitumen was the problem,

06:21who ordered it?

06:22Was it a cost-cutting measure?

06:24A rushed job to meet an election deadline?

06:26Was it incompetence or corruption?

06:28Third,

06:29the remaining two lanes of the flyover

06:31need clear,

06:32accountable timelines for completion.

06:34Citizens deserve to know

06:36when this road will genuinely be fully functional,

06:39not half-baked.

06:40There should be public daily progress updates

06:42because people enduring daily traffic

06:44have a right to know

06:46when real relief is coming.

06:48And finally,

06:49real accountability,

06:50not another committee,

06:51not another report gathering dust,

06:53but actual action.

06:55If two bikers had died that day,

06:57we would be talking about

06:58FIRs,

06:59arrest,

06:59and compensation.

07:00Just because they survived

07:02doesn't mean the risk they were subjected to

07:04should be brushed aside.

07:06The Pallava flyover was supposed to be promised.

07:09Today,

07:09it stands as a warning.

07:11A warning of what happens

07:12when pushing inaugurations takes priority

07:15over safety checks.

07:16A warning of how public money is spent

07:19without public accountability.

07:20A warning about a system

07:23that is comfortable with mediocrity

07:25as long as a photo op is done,

07:27a banner is printed,

07:29and an election speech is ready.

07:31And if we,

07:31as citizens,

07:32don't demand accountability,

07:34this will happen again.

07:35Another flyover will crumble,

07:37another road will peel,

07:38another bridge will crack,

07:40and you and I will pay with our taxes,

07:42our time,

07:43and sometimes with our lives.

07:45This was your honest take

07:46with me,

07:47Tejas,

07:47on the Pallava flyover fiasco,

07:49a fiasco that should wake us up,

07:52not just to the state of our roads,

07:53but to the state of governance

07:55we live under.

07:56If you care about the spaces you live in

07:58and the systems that shape your daily life,

08:01keep asking questions,

08:03keep demanding accountability,

08:04and keep watching Lokmat Times

08:06for more such stories.

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