Bombay HC questions elevated metro lines plan

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday raised question on the Maharashtra government’s decision to construct elevated metro lines across Mumbai. The court said that the slabs used to construct the elevated metro lines would give way after 40-50 years due to vibrations and carrying out repairs would take years.

The division bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Bharati Dangre raised this question while hearing a petition filed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), seeking permission to clear some mangroves along the proposed Metro lines between Dahisar and Mankhurd areas, and another line near Belapur.

During hearing, the advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni informed the court that as per the current plan, only one of all the proposed metro lines in the city would be underground.

The bench said that it did not understand why the state and the MMRDA failed to observe that the slabs used to construct the elevated metro lines would give way after 40-50 years. “Unlike flyovers which you can shut for repairs for some time and provide for an alternative route in the meanwhile, what will you do about an entire metro line?” the court asked.

The bench further observed, “World over, we have not seen elevated metro lines running across a city. They are usually underground or run on the ground. Can you imagine how long it would take to repair the elevated line slabs and what will happen to the traffic situation in such time?”

The bench then directed the advocate general Kumbhakoni to ask the authorities concerned to give some thought to the subject.

It may be recalled that citizens of various areas have also approached the court with separate petitions seeking to revoke the implementation of the proposed elevated Metro 2B and Metro 4 lines, which are pending before the high court.