The MMRDA has received 8,000 objections and suggestions from residents against the proposed elevated line from Charkop to Mankhurd.
Mumbai makeover seems to be running afoul of citizen activism in the upscale areas of the city. After the proposed flyover at Peddar Road saw protests from high-profile citizens, including Lata Mangeshkar and sister Asha Bhonsle, the second phase of the metro project has hit a similar hurdle.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) has received 8,000 objections and suggestions from residents against the proposed elevated line from Charkop to Mankhurd. Their demand: an underground line should replace the elevated corridor along the congested Linking Road in Bandra, Khar and Santacruz.
Residents of Peddar Road had started a similar campaign against the proposed flyover. However, there were no such protests against the JJ and Sion flyovers, which also pass
through congested areas.
The estimated cost of the 32-km Charkop-Mankhurd elevated line is Rs6,192 crore — roughly Rs200 crore per km. But if the eight-km Bandra-Andheri stretch goes underground, the cost will increase by around Rs3,000 crore — the underground line costs Rs600 crore per km.
The Khar (West) Advanced Locality Management (ALM), a group of residents which takes up citizens’ issues, has sent a letter to societies across Bandra, Khar and Santacruz, highlighting their objections to the elevated line.
Residents and shopkeepers along the congested Linking Road have raised objections to the elevated corridor of the Charkop-Mankhurd metro project.
The Khar (West) Advanced Locality Management (ALM) has sent letters to societies across Bandra, Khar and Santacruz to highlight why and underground line would be more beneficial than an elevated metro.
“As many as 73 buildings have already signed the letter, which has been sent to MMRDA. The authority is lacking transparency. Three different individuals who filed RTI queries were given three different locations of a metro station,” Aftab Siddique, the ALM chairperson told DNA.
The linking road shopkeepers’ association has also written to MMRDA.
“Unfortunately, shop owners at Linking Road are not aware of what lies ahead. If the congested Linking Road gets an elevated metro, our business may suffer severely,” said association president Hari Mehra.
Ranjana Barve, another active resident from Bandra-Khar area, criticised the authority
saying it “did not even bother to ask the residents before announcing a metro in our own area”. “We have demanded that the metro in our locality must not disturb our livelihood and must go underground,” Barve said.
The MMRDA has, however, ruled out the possibility of the metro going underground. Its spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar told DNA that the decision to construct the elevated line was taken after a techno-economic feasibility study carried out by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which is the prime consultant for the Mumbai metro.
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