The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has commenced testing of soil for the implementation of Dahisar-DN Nagar Metro-2A corridor, and the Dahisar east-Andheri east Metro-7 corridor.

The MMRDA plans to start civil work on both the corridors simultaneously after the monsoon, for which it is currently in the last stages of awarding work order for Metro-2A. However, for Metro-7 corridor, work orders was already issued to three private companies in May 2016.

“At the moment, to start the civil work is not possible because we need to study the soil on the alignment of both the projects. The soil testing will help us in determining where the viaducts, stations can be constructed, considering the detailed project report (DPR),” said a MMRDA official.

The alignment of the Metro-2A corridor is over the Link Road, and for the Metro-7 corridor is over Western Express Highway (WEH) for which the MMRDA is in communication with the Western Railway and the BEST to run more train and bus services for commuters so as to enable them avoid these routes while the construction is on. Also, there are plans of diverting the vehicular traffic on the Swami Vivekananda (SV) Road as there are chances of Link Road and WEH getting choked up during the construction. “We have requested the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to conduct demolition drive of illegal structures on the SV Road for it to get widened and have smooth flow of traffic,” added the official.