MMRDA shifts focus to peripheral areas for Metro

With work on almost half dozen proposed metro corridors in the city yet to take off, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will now shift its focus on the peripheral areas of the city to come up with fresh proposals for metro corridors. The authority will upgrade the Comprehensive Transportation Study (CTS) to update the metro master plan for a metro network.

The MMRDA plans to focus on proposing metro corridors in cities, which include Navi Mumbai, Bhiwandi, Thane, Mira Road, Bhayandar, Vasai, Virar and Ulhasnagar.

The MMRDA has also floated global bids for the appointment of consultant who will be preparing the updated master plan for the MMRDA.

Back in 2008, the MMRDA had, with the help of a private research firm and the World Bank, prepared CTS which had suggested to upgrade the transportation system in the city and metropolitan region by means of metros, highways, additional suburban railway lines and the monorail.

Apart from the operational Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro-1 corridor, work on all other metro corridors is yet to start. They are currently in tendering stage or the MMRDA is preparing a detailed project report (DPR) on a few others.

Subsequently in 2015, the MMRDA had claimed to have planned for a 118-km-long metro network in the city and metropolitan region.

Commenting on the development, U.P.S. Madan, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, said, “We plan to complete the upgradation of CTS in another seven to eight months and there are possibilities that after the study is completed there could be some new proposals for new metro corridors. Also, we are currently working keenly on the proposal of having a metro network between the Thane-Kalyan-Bhiwandi stretch.”

Further, the MMRDA has already awarded contracts for the Dahisar east- Andheri east Metro-7 corridor for which the work is likely to start after monsoons.

It is also going to finalise the contracts for starting work on another metro corridor from Dahisar to DN Nagar, named Metro-2A corridor.

Also, the Colaba-Seepz underground Metro-3 corridor being implemented by Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) plans to start civil work by end of 2016.

While, work on the Metro-7 and Metro-2A is expected to start soon, other proposed metro corridors like the DN Nagar-Mankhurd Metro-2B, Wadala-Thane Metro-4 and the Jogeshwari-Seepz-Kanjurmarg Metro-6 corridor including the pending work on phase-2 monorail from Wadala to Jacob Circle are yet to take off. This is because these are at a stage where the alignment is not finalised nor the expected ridership identified; Neither does the MMRDA have knowledge about how it will arrange funds for these projects which are in the pipeline, excluding the monorail phase-2 as the MMRDA claims it will start its services by the end of 2016.