Over the weekend when Municipal commissioner V. Ranganathan visited Andheri, the IT leisure and housing hub of Mumbai, he was greeted by huge potholes, encroachments narrow roads and traffic jams at every step.

Earlier, major IT firms were complaining about the sorry state of affairs in Andheri. But now, the owners of five-star hotels and real estate consultants too have joined in. Incidentally, the bad condition of roads leading to the Sahar International airport is likely to invite trouble in the future as four new hotels - The Taj (200rooms), ITC Sheraton (400 rooms), Intercontinental, Bharat Hotels (350 rooms) and Hyatt Regency (400 rooms) are awaiting opening early next year, while the Le Meredian (177 rooms) has recently opened in the area. The Leela Group is also planing a massive expansion plan with a luxury suite hotel next to its existent property. Two new four-star hotels are being planned in this area and another three in Powai area.

Captain Krishnan Nair, Chairman, Leela Group told Bombay Times," In the coming year there will be additional 2000 rooms available in the area if the, roads are not improved, there will be major traffic chaos."

To deal with this problem, Nair has presented a list of suggestions to the municipal commissioner. These include:

• Widening of the Andheri-Kurla mad. This project is already incorporated in the development plan.

• Widening of the Goregaon-Mulund link mad, which will help to divert the trucks coming to the Andheri-Kurla mad.

• Road leading to the domestic airport next to Godfrey Philips cigarette factory to be widened.

• The need to widen the Marc pipeline to 60 feet, which is already mentioned in the development plan.

• Restriction on the movement heavy vehicles on the Andheri-Kurla road and the removal of bottleneck on the Saki-Vihar road.

After listening to the complaints regarding the infrastructure breakdown in the area, Ranganathan called meeting of all hoteliers as well as agencies like the Airports Authority, MTNL BSES to establish a co-ordinating committee to deal with these issues in Andheri (E). The BMC hydraulic engineers as well as the local ward officers will also be a part of this committee, which will meet every fortnight to review mailers pertaining to beautification, removal of slums and traffic bottlenecks.

Real estate consultants in Andheri (E) say that this area is an embarrassment when it comes to foreign investors. Revathy Roy, SM, western region, Colliers Jardine says, ‘The first impression is horrible" Recalling her journey to SEEPZ with some foreign investors recently she remarks, ‘They (guests) couldn’t believe what they saw. The roads here need constant repairs since there is heavy traffic throughout the day" Office-goers who travel to SEEPZ, Vikhroli, Thane and Bandra also complain about the state of roads in the area. ‘Reaching the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) takes one hour now. The incomplete flyover on the Western Express Highway also creates havoc everyday," IT professional complains.

The Estate Agents Association of India (EAAI) believes that there is tremendous potential in this fast developing commercial region of Mumbai. It’s organising a get-together of its members in Powai in October to discuss the future plans for the area. "Andheri is offering offices to people at one-fourth the price than that at Nariman Point. There is a live-and-work concept, which is fast catching on here. However, it will boom further if The mad conditions are improved," adds Atul Shah, president. EAAI.

The lease rentals are available at Ps 40-75 per sq. ft. While established names like Apple, L&T, Star TV, Jet Airways, Colgate, Mahindra British Telecom etc have gone for plush Offices; several dotcom companies are also finding spaces within their budgets.