Residents snub MMRDA chief, demand underground metro

Hundreds of people between Andheri and Bandra, including celebrities, activists, social organisations and educational institutes took to the streets on Sunday demanding that the Andheri to Bandra section of the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd metro line be made underground.

The 32km long route passes through congested parts of Juhu, Santacruz, Khar and Bandra.

While the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) commissioner, Ratnakar Gaikwad, has stated that the section cannot be made underground, residents are continuing their agitation.

“Gaikwad cannot be sitting in an air-conditioned office taking these decisions on our behalf. As citizens and tax payers of this country, we have an equal right in the decision-making process,” said filmmaker and activist Ashoke Pandit.

Citing technical difficulties and lack of funds, Gaikwad had pointed out that the residents’ proposal for an underground line was not feasible. “We will need to construct a ramp from where the metro can go from elevated to underground and vice versa. But there is no such patch either in Andheri or Bandra,” Gaikwad had said on Friday.

However, activists claim that the MMRDA’s stance on the issue is ridiculous. “They are ready to destroy long stretches of roads in the Western suburbs but claim to find no space for switchover ramps, which will be no more than 1.5 km at either end for the underground metro,” said Juhu resident and architect Nitin Killawala.

“When the MMRDA is planning to construct underground metro near the Bombay High Court, Oval Maidan, Crawford Market, and Mahalaxmi, then why this disparity in the suburbs where there is a fast growing population that generates maximum revenues for the city,” asked Sujay Jairaj, trustee of Juhu’s Jamnabai Narsee School.

The residents are also sore about the elevated metro line between Versova and Ghatkopar via Andheri which they claim will not be completed on time. “The MMRDA has messed it up. In the 11.8km stretch, they do not have access to nearly a three-km stretch because of congested roads, litigation issues and other actualities,” said actor and activist Kunicka Lall.