Notwithstanding the demands made by residents of western suburbs, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) on Monday gave the final clearance for the 32-km elevated second line of metro railway between Charkop and Bandra via Mankhurd. The meeting chaired by chief minister Ashok Chavan also cleared other proposals worth Rs4,700 crore.
The residents organisations of Bandra, Juhu, Andheri and Linking Road had been demanding that a part of the metro-II (approximately 10 to 12 km) be underground since it passes through a congested Linking Road area. However, the MMRDA executive committee saw reason in the argument. BJP corporator and MMRDA member Ashish Shelar argued in favour of residents during the Monday’s meeting.
“I did make a demand that a part of the second metro be underground. It was not met. I also demanded that there should not be acquisition of prime land for the elevated line. I was assured that since the metro will pass along the median of the road, not much land would be needed,” Shelar said.
Other projects cleared Besides metro, other projects such as construction of dams and setting up of an international science and technology park were also cleared by the authority. Science and Technology Park (STP), Pune, has been appointed to study the scope of the innovation park in the metropolitan region.
The construction and water supply in bulk from Shai dam, Poshir and Kalu and the water distribution from Surya dam, in all, will cost Rs4,731 crores and is likely to generate 3,000 MLD of extra water for the region.
The authority also decided to establish the National Research and Training Institute
to improve transportation expertise on the lines of Federal Transit Administration in the US.