The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) have locked horns over this amount, which was spent by the latter for ground-level preparations of the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link.
It is all a matter of Rs25 crore of public money.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) have locked horns over this amount, which was spent by the latter for ground-level preparations of the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link.
Recently, the state decided that the construction of the 22km link connecting Sewri and Nhava will be carried out by the MMRDA, as it is rich in cash flow. This was after MSRDC failed to take the project ahead in spite of using both financial models — the cash contract and the build-operate-transfer model. MMRDA officials approached the corporation to get the basic drawings, various impact studies and documents related to the earlier bids.
However, the corporation did not hand over the relevant papers claiming it had spent about Rs25 crore and it will hand over the papers only after it receives the money.
A top MSRDC official said that its financial situation was not good and Rs25 crore was no longer a small amount for it. “Why should we not ask for the money? MMRDA will be carrying out the studies based on the ground level reports, which we have prepared. What is wrong if we ask for Rs25 crore from them?” said the official.
MMRDA officials seem to have a different version. All metropolitan commissioner Rahul Asthana said was, “We will sort it out in a few days.” However, top officials are fuming. “Our authority has given MSRDC short-term and long-term loans totalling up to Rs1,000 crore. Why are they cribbing about a small amount? We have taken over MTHL and started work on it on a fast track. They would have taken ages to complete it. There is no way we will pay them,” said a senior official.
But unless the documents of the earlier alignments are handed over, the work for the link is likely to get hampered, MMRDA sources said.
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