Lata denies saying she will leave Mumbai

"The news report quoting me as having said that I would leave Mumbai if the flyover was built was entirely baseless and mischievous," she said in a statement faxed to media offices late last night.

"I have not spoken on this topic in the recent past to print or television journalists or anyone else," she said.

"The whole affair has caused me anguish. I and my family have been involved in social movements for many years. I understand public interest. What I do not understand is the journalism now," she said.

"Now a days, no-news is made news. And the victim of such news has to issue a clarification. I am unaccustomed to such things," she said.

Lata, who lives in Prabhu Kunj building off Peddar Road in south Mumbai, has been opposing the state government's plan of a 2.2 km flyover, from NSA Grounds in Worli to Wilson College at Girgaum Chowpatty.

Maharashtra Public Works Minister Anil Deshmukh had recently announced that he would discuss with Lata the need to commence work on the Rs 125 crore flyover started by the year-end.