Chandivali 90Ft DP Road: After Protest, Hunger Strike & Jhoot Bolo Cake Cutting, Residents To Organise 'Sadbuddhi Havan' To Mark 3rd Anniversary Of BMC Inaction

Mumbai: Chandivali residents have turned to spiritual intervention to attract the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) attention towards the excruciating delay in constructing a vital public road. The Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA) has announced a ‘Sadbuddhi Havan’ on Sunday, the third anniversary of the civic body’s announcement of the 90ft road, which has failed to proceed further.

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The road in question is a 90ft road connecting Chandivali Farm Road to the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) designated in Mumbai’s development plan (DP) of 1990. According to CCWA, the Sadbuddhi Havan (a Vedic ritual praying for good sense and divine wisdom) is their last resort to get the BMC to solve a modern civic nightmare after being driven to the brink by years of official apathy and crippling traffic congestion.

Peaceful protest organised by CCWA members and Chandivali Residents

The residents’ association’s fight for the 90ft DP road has been in action for over three years. In February 2023, CCWA members staged a peaceful demonstration and later submitted a written proposal to the then additional commissioner, who had assured them of floating a tender for the road’s development. However, the tender was floated in August that year only after the citizens went on a hunger strike.

CCWA members submitting representation to Additional BMC Commissioner

Having a tender officially floated and approved three years ago, the crucial infrastructure project remains largely on paper, with only one-third of the 600m road built in 2021, which is now used to park vehicles. Last year, the CCWA gathered on the second anniversary of the tender by celebrating a sarcastic ‘jhoot bolo’ cake-cutting ceremony to mark two years of BMC’s unkept promise of constructing the road.

Chandivali Residents on a hunger strike

In August 2023, the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission took suo motu cognisance of the issue and observed that the human rights of the residents in the said locality are being violated due to delays on the part of the BMC. The commission had also made critical observations about the municipal commissioner’s way of discharging his duty.

MP Varsha Gaikwad accepted CCWA's voters' manifesto

MP Varsha Gaikwad, in his election manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, had promised to push for better roads and mobility, distinctly highlighting the development of the 90ft DP road project. In May 2025, the residents sought a follow-up meeting with the MP to learn the progress made in terms of the promises but all in vain.

CCWA members and Chandivali Residents celebrated Jhoot Bolo anniversary by cutting a cake on the second anniversary

The residents have highlighted that over the past decade, the civic body has aggressively greenlit massive residential and commercial projects in the Powai-Chandivali belt, granting approvals to prominent developers and a global capability centre. While thousands of high-density flats have sprung up, the surrounding road infrastructure has remained frozen in time, leading to gridlocked paralysis for thousands of commuters navigating the cramped lanes of Chandivali and Saki Naka.

"We have written letters, submitted petitions, held peaceful protests, and even sat on a hunger strike. Having approached politicians and bureaucrats across all levels with no result, we are left with no choice but to appeal to God to grant sadbuddhi to the authorities," said CCWA founder Mandeep Singh Makkar. He added that if the BMC lacks the capacity to construct roads planned thirty-six years ago, it must immediately freeze permissions for new high-density builds which are adding further strain to an already collapsing civic framework.

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