21.2.09

Alternative for Mumbai's second Metro line


An alternate plan for Mumbai’s second metro line, put forth by the residents from Bandra, Juhu, and other neighbouring areas will be studied in detail by the state planners. The plan proposes an underground metro line instead of the MMRDA’s (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) elevated rail. With the support of over 10,000 residents, a committee comprising architects, shopkeepers from Linking Road, educational institutions and activists from the H West Ward Citizens Trust, said that their proposal will not inflict such a heavy social cost in terms of loss of land and livelihood as the elevated rail will. Nitin Killawalla, architect and an active campaigner against the elevated line, argued that the plan has been put together by professionals along with former top officials of the Indian railways. “We have ensured that our underground stations are placed near public open spaces so that there is minimum disruption to the locality as well as human settlements,’’ said Killawalla, adding that the current plan would lead to disruption of the areas it went through. “They want to have a railway line and stations on Linking Road, which is already a congested area. Our alternate plan seeks to remove this problem by skirting Linking Road,’’ he said. MMRDA officials said they will get professional assessment of the plan, but the proposed changes may add to the already growing cost of the metro rail. According to senior MMRDA official Vijaylaxmi, the cost of the underground section is more than double the cost of the elevated section. The cost, say planning officials, will increase by Rs 4,000 crore over and above the Rs 7,660 crore earmarked for the project. Residents say the state’s argument that it will be costlier is fallacious. “If you include the cost of disruption of families and commercial establishments, and the fact that you have to acquire more land for an over-ground route, it adds up to a lot more,’’ said Killawalla. V K J Rane, former chairman of IRCON (originally, the Indian Railways Construction Company) a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, who has been assisting the residents in their proposal added that if the rail route was done on broad gauge, the cost could be brought down. “It will cut costs by 40 per cent as the coaches and signalling would then be manufactured in India,’’ he said. One major hurdle is the proposed ‘train ramps’ at the entry and exit points in Andheri and Bandra, where the elevated and underground sections can meet. The construction of these ramps, say MMRDA officials, will also require land to be acquired, and could result in the re-location of shops, residences, and so on. Metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said that the MMRDA will check the technical and economic feasibility of the alternative underground section between Bandra and Andheri and only then will be they to decide on the measures to be taken. Activists said that over 8,000 objections to the government route have been filed with the state urban development department, but they have yet to be heard.

MMRDA Plan: Second metro line from Charkop to Mankhurd via Bandra will be 32km long, with 27 stations all of them elevated . Route from Bandra to Andheri will have 8 elevated stations. Officials say that it is more cost effective than the citizens' proposal. Expenditure has been pegged at Rs7,660 crore . The argument is that it’s technically easier to build an overhead metro rather than one that’s elevated and underground.

Citizen's concerns : Areas affected will be JVPD, Linking Road, part of SV Road. A section of shops, residential areas and slums will be affected Trees will be uprooted Noise pollution levels will increase . Width of roads and pavements will have to be reduced . Main arterial roads like Linking Road will be affected as the line will take up muchneeded space.

Alternate Proposal : The nine to 10km stretch from Bandra to Andheri should be underground as this will ease the problems that residents will face . Seven instead of eight stations have been marked out.

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