In a welcome relief for Santacruz residents, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has begun restoring footpaths across the neighbourhood as the ongoing Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) work nears completion in phased pockets. A few days ago, the civic body began reinstating the footpath along Road No. 3 in TPA Scheme VI, marking one of the first stretches to be fully returned to pedestrian use.

For months, residents in Santacruz West had been grappling with narrowed roads, dug-up pathways, barricaded stretches, and traffic disruptions caused by various civic works, including STP-related pipeline installations, underground civil works and road concreting works. The project — part of the larger Mumbai Sewage Disposal Programme (MSDP) — aims to upgrade the city’s outdated sewer network and improve long-term waste management. However, its execution across residential lanes of Santacruz had raised concerns about safety, walkability, and prolonged public inconvenience.