MMRDA, BMC will take care of city needs: Chief minister

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Wednesday that Mumbai could not expect much from the state budget and that most of its infrastructure needs were being taken care of by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

“MMRDA will come out with a Rs9,000 crore plan for the city that will have new projects and also launch subsequent phases of ongoing projects,” the chief minister told journalists.

Chavan expressed satisfaction over the mono rail system, the first phase of which will be launched by the middle of the next financial year. Also, the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar metro line, which will carry an estimated 6lakh travellers, is expected to be opened by September.

He said that the MMRDA has taken up work on three major road stretches: Andheri-Ghatkopar link road, JP road and Anik-Panjrapole link road. The Eastern Freeway would be completed soon, while work is in progress on the Sahar elevated road and the Milan rail over-bridge.

Meanwhile, the state government approved the elevated metro rail project for Nagpur  and the proposal will be put before the Centre for its approval. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said during his budget presentation that the project covers Sitabardi-Airport-Butibori and would be implemented by the Nagpur Improvement Trust at an estimated cost of Rs7,350 crore.

Also, out of the two corridors for the Pune metro rail project covering 31.5 km in the first phase, the state government has sanctioned the corridor from Wanaj to  Ramwadi, while the Pimpri Chinchwad to Swargate section is under consideration.

The project will cost an estimated Rs10,183 crore. The Centre is yet to approve the project.