With proposed use of Aarey forest land for Metro line-3 car shed becoming a hot potato, officials say area set aside may need a relook
Does the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro line-3 need a depot spanning 30 hectares of precious Aarey forest land to park and maintain its 42 rakes of eight coaches each? The question comes up because one of the country's largest car depots, the Western Railway car shed at Virar, is built on all of 25.8 hectares, but has the capacity to park and maintain 60 rakes of 12 coaches each day. At the moment, the Virar depot stables some 30 12-coach rakes each night.
With proposed use of Aarey forest land becoming a political hot potato, especially with politicians of all hues jumping into the 'Save Aarey' movement, officials who have worked on such mega-projects say it is time for a relook at how much land is actually required for the Metro depot.
Arguing that a Metro depot sometimes ends up requiring more space because of the need for an Operation and Control Centre as well as an electric sub-station on the same plot, some officials said the land area earmarked at Aarey is, in fact, required. "Moreover, unlike suburban rakes which can be stabled in the open, Metro coaches are more delicate and need to be parked inside the shed," said an official.
However, another section of officials believe that a bit of improvisation - a staple of the infamously congested Mumbai suburban railway system - might also have to be thrown in to make the project palatable to naysayers.
"In a situation like Mumbai where land is scarce and taking even a small percentage of forest space is not advisable as it can become an emotive issue big enough to stall a project completely, people behind the Metro line 3 must decide on technologies that can ensure that the depot comes up on a smaller plot. The need to evaluate situations like having multi-level stabling or perhaps underground car depots like in China or Singapore can be thought of," said a top-ranking railway official.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and its Metro undertaking Mumbai Metro Railway Corporation (MMRC), however, believes that the 30 hectare of land earmarked in Aarey is not an inch too many.
Replying to a dna query, Ashwini Bhide, managing director of MMRC, said, "We need 30 hectares. The area for the car depot depends on its shape. With elongated shape, the area requirement can go down slightly. But the squarish shape of the Aarey depot land makes it very tight to adjust all the stabling lines for 42 eight-coach rakes along with heavy and light maintenance and washing facilities, and an 'at grade' station."
Bhide insisted that the depot be efficiently designed without wasting any space.
Numbers game:
Aarey Metro depot
Area required: 30 hectares (74 acres)
Rakes to be stabled/serviced: 42
Length of each rake: 8-coach
Virar local train depot
Area: 26 hectares (64 acres)
Rakes to be stabled/serviced: 60 (currently 30 rakes are parked daily)
Length of rake: 12- or 15-coach
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