Activists to move Bombay high court over elevated metro

The 32km metro train corridor between Charkop, Bandra, and Mankhurd, which was to have 12 elevated stations, continues to be criticised by activists. After two protest marches, citizen groups will now fight the battle in court.

“The overhead metro project is set to devastate the city. PILs will be filed by various activists to make the concerned authorities heed our demands,” said Shyama Kulkarni, trustee of NGO Agni.

A signature campaign would also be initiated by citizens, she added.

Citizens have been demanding that the metro route should be made underground, as activists claim the city’s infrastructure will not be able to support the overhead route. Civic activist Nikhil Desai said, “Roads in the city are just 90ft wide and a majority of the area is taken up by residential and commercial structures. How does the MMRDA plan to construct an elevated route?”

If constructed, the elevated stations would be at a marginal distance from adjoining buildings. A query under the RTI stated that the fire department had also spoken about the dangers of an elevated metro route, as the ensuing congestion would hamper the disaster control work.

A 60-page report compiled by IIT-Bombay also promotes the bankability of an underground metro, said architect Nitin Killawala. “The MMRDA claims that the elevated route would cost Rs200 crore per km and underground route Rs650 crore.

However, land acquisition costs have been overlooked,” added Desai. The IIT-Bombay report states that underground metro would cost Rs400 crore per km.

The architect revealed that the project has been unscrupulously sanctioned under the Indian Tramways act of 1886, while the Indian Metro rail and Maintenance Act 1978 is already in place.

“The Indian Tramways act allows authorities to initiate the project without prior permission,” said  Killawala.