Sanpada: In a significant breakthrough for thousands of daily commuters, the Bombay High Court has approved the long-awaited vehicular underpass beneath Palm Beach Road, near the Kesar Solitaire building in Sector 19, Sanpada. This long-pending project is expected to substantially ease the severe congestion at the busy Moraj Circle junction, offering long-awaited relief to residents of Sanpada and Juinagar who have struggled with persistent traffic chaos for years.

Sanpada currently relies on just two key access points — the Sanpada village route and the heavily burdened Moraj Circle entry via Palm Beach Road. With vehicular traffic increasing steadily, the Moraj Circle intersection has become a major bottleneck, especially during the morning and evening rush hours. Deeply troubled by years of gridlock, former corporators Vaijayanti Bhagat and Rupali Bhagat had been consistently pursuing the underpass proposal for nearly nine years, advocating for a long-term solution to ease the pressure on the junction.

The proposed tunnel at Sector 19 falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), requiring mandatory judicial approval. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation assured the court that no mangroves would be destroyed and that all CRZ guidelines would be strictly followed during the project’s execution. After examining the submissions, a division bench led by Chief Justice Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad granted the necessary clearance.

With the High Court’s approval, all administrative obstacles for the underpass — whose tenders were cleared two years ago — have now been removed, allowing work to begin soon. Following the verdict, former corporators Vaijayanti Bhagat and Rupali Bhagat expressed gratitude to State Forest Minister Ganesh Naik, the High Court, the NMMC Commissioner, and the local community for their cooperation and prompt support.

The underpass is expected to benefit thousands of motorists who routinely face delays at Morage Circle. Once completed, it will provide major relief to residents of Sectors 1 and 13 to 19, Sanpada village, Sectors 2 to 11, as well as commuters from Juinagar. The project aims to ease the traffic flow across the entire Sanpada–Juinagar belt and eliminate daily congestion at one of Navi Mumbai’s busiest junctions.