Mumbai Urban Transport Project-II may suffer due to Bandra land dispute

The sale of 45,371 sq m of land in Bandra (East) was supposed to fund the phase two of city’s rail upgrade.

With the proposal stuck in dispute, railway officials on Wednesday said that any further delay could hit the city’s seven million commuters, as crucial components such as the delivery of new trains and the construction of new lines are dependent on it.

“We had planned to lease out the plot for 80 years on commercial use. The money generated from the plot was to be used for funding the Mumbai Urban Transport Project-II and other rail projects within Maharashtra,” a senior official said.

With additional FSI, the railways were expecting around Rs2,000 crore to Rs2,500 crore from the plot. Suburban collector Nandkumar Deshmukh did not respond to calls and text messages.

The state and WR have been stuck in a dispute over the ownership of the land.

The FSI of the plot was also increased to four so that it generates money for the transport project.

The Rail Land Development Authority, last year, had asked developers to come forward with a plan to commercially develop the land, but it was shelved after the state claimed ownership over a part of the land.

Western Railway archives suggest that the railways had bought the land in 1911 for a meagre amount of Rs4,74,962 15 annas and nine paise, to be precise.