MMRDA to allow soil testing for bullet train work

After being firm on not allowing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project to take shape at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) seems to have blinked first. The officials are now ready to permit High-Speed Rail Corporation of India Limited (HSRC) to conduct only soil testing at the business district.

When the bullet train terminal was decided to be set up at BKC, MMRDA authorities opposed it as it clashed with their own plans of an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) on the same plot.

Now, Dilip Kawathkar, spokesperson of MMRDA has confirmed, "If an application comes seeking a nod to conduct soil testing, MMRDA will give an approval for onlythat," In other words, the permission will not mean clearance for the larger bullet train project.

As the landmark HSRC project is being monitored by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), there is pressure to take the project forward.

Last week, representatives of HSRC went to conduct soil testing, but were sent back.