The worry for WR officials has now increased. With the deadlock nowhere near a solution, they believe the construction of the 6th line between Mumbai Central and Borivali will also be hit by the Navpada tussle.
There is a sense of despondency creeping into the officialdom of Western Railway as far as the stalled 5th line link between Santa Cruz and Mahim is concerned. The reason: just about no one in the hierarchy has any idea how the deadlock will be solved. The line, ready since May this year, is yet to be commissioned because it is being opposed by residents of shanty towns along the Navpada cemetery in the eastern fringe of Bandra station because the line cuts off the cemetery from the townships.
According to railway officials, the issue of its commissioning got raised during the September 16 meeting between the state government and railway officials. The meeting, chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and with general managers of both Western and Central Railways in attendance, briefly discussed the issue but it could come up with anything concrete. Incidentally, of the several projects that got a thumbs-up during Fadnavis' September 16 coordination meeting, the 6th line Mumbai Central-Borivli project was one of the major ones.
The worry for WR officials has now increased. With the deadlock nowhere near a solution, they believe the construction of the 6th line between Mumbai Central and Borivali will also be hit by the Navpada tussle.
"The 6th line will follow pretty much the same alignment and if shanty towns along the route oppose the 5th line at the current location, why would they allow the 6th line? The 6th line in fact is a far more complex work which will include land acquisition and also restructuring of the Harbour Line bridge between Bandra and Khar. The project at the moment looks bleak," said a top-ranking official.
The 6th line, on the drawing board for almost two decades now, is a Rs918-crore project of which some Rs140 crore has already been spent. Just this August, WR released Rs18 crore to build an elevated deck and some route-relay interlocking work at Dadar station as part of the 6th line project.
However, officials say by the time the projects gets completed — if ever they do in a decade's time — the cost and the final alignment might have taken a heavy knock from such 'people's movements'.
The completion of the 5th and 6th lines will give WR a complete corridor between Mumbai Central and Borivli that will allow outstation trains without pressure on the saturated suburban tracks. Currently, long-distance trains run on something called the Suburban Track Avoidance (STA) in both directions.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Navpada")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}