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The thought of commuting in Mumbai fills every one with dread. But better times are here as the Maharashtra Government plans to take transport infrastructure work worth Rs 5,000 crore this fiscal.
The projects include the first phase of the metro and the mono-rail. The safety trials of these systems are on. The Sahar elevated road, a direct link from the Western Express Highway to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, and the Santacruz-Chembur link will also be completed soon, said Maharashtra Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, in an interview with Business Line .
A spokesperson of Mumbai Metro One, which is executing the metro rail project, said the project is at an advanced stage of completion and is expected to be commissioned fully by end of this financial year. The entire metro corridor from Versova to Ghatkopar will be commissioned at one go, the spokesperson added.
The Western suburb of Versova will be connected to the Eastern suburb of Ghatkopar via Andheri in the first phase of the 11.4-km elevated track. This connectivity between Eastern and Western suburbs will provide much-needed relief to commuters. Currently, the journey on clogged roads is made tedious by the numerous traffic jams.
Mumbai Metro One is the special purpose vehicle (SPV) that is doing the metro work. Reliance Energy, a Reliance ADAG Company; Veolia Transport of France, and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) manage the SPV, with Reliance ADAG as the lead manager.
The Versova-Ghatkopar corridor will be able to carry about six lakh commuters every day. For commuters, this line is expected to reduce the travel time from the current 90 minutes to about 20 minutes. The roads will also get unclogged.
Monorail plans
Mumbai’s mono-rail is India’s first, being undertaken for the 20-km corridor from Chembur to Wadala and Wadala to Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk in Central Mumbai. The mono-rail can carry 7,500 commuters an hour in each direction and can ferry 1.5-2 lakh commuters daily. It will connect many parts of the city that are not connected by the suburban rail system or the metro rail.
About 95 per cent of the construction work on the mono-rail system is complete. It will provide an efficient feeder transit system that is also affordable.
The Chief Minister has said that the first phase of the mono-rail is on schedule and it will commence its operations by December. Unfortunately, the contract for the second metro rail line, connecting Charkop to Mankhurd via Bandra Kurla Complex, has been scrapped as adequate land is not available for the line. The line was to pass through a stretch of mangrove and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest is not willing to grant construction permission, said the Chief Minister.
Mumbai’s Eastern Freeway, which was opened to commuters in June, connects south Mumbai to the eastern suburbs. The 17-km freeway is expected to ease traffic jams in the city by cutting a 45-minute journey to 20 minutes. It is a toll-free road, only meant for four-wheelers.
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