With the Bombay High Court staying the work at the government’s Kanjurmarg metro car shed, there’s now a growing sense of uncertainty about the completion of the Metro 3 underground line (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz). Officials are unable to predict how long the legal battles will take.
This 33.5 Km project is being undertaken by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) which had previously set a Sep 2022 deadline for Phase I of the project between Aarey to BKC and March 2023 for the corridor until Colaba.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) had reportedly planned a double-deck depot with the lower deck used for Metro and Metro 6 (Lokhandwala to Vikhroli) whereas the upper deck was to be used for Metro Lines 4 (Wadala-Kasarvadavali) and 14 (Badlapur-Kanjurmarg).
In its submission to the high court, the MMRDA said that until now, ₹15,994 crores has been put into Metro Line 3 and ₹547.83 crores have been spent for Lines 4 and 4A (Kasarvadavali - Gaimukh) while ₹350 crores have been spent on Line 6.
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“MMRC has finished more than 85% of tunneling work and 61% of civil works (a figure that MMRDA submitted to HC). If the depot location would not have changed, the project would have been ready in three years. Now, with the depot land unavailable, nobody can predict how long it will take for the line to open up,” a state government official said.
The MMRC also had to contend with legal trouble while seeking approval for felling of trees that were on the path of the project. “Any major project has to face legal challenges but MMRC had also weathered that storm. Now, the issue is again in the court because of which we are back to square one,” the official added.
The MMRC has previously claimed that the project is seeing a loss of ₹5 crores per day due to delays in executing the project. It is estimated that the costs will only rise as the court’s hearing on the matter is scheduled for February 2021.
Also read - Kanjurmarg Metro Car Shed Project To Save Almost Rs 5,500 Crores: Aaditya Thackeray
Officials are mindful that no matter which party wins the legal battle, the losing side is expected to challenge it at the Supreme Court. This only means more delays until a final order is delivered, raising some serious concerns for state and civic officials.
The MMRDA in its submission to the High Court said that the project costs may be significantly reduced if a common car shed is implemented for Metro Lines 6, 4, and 3 at Kanjurmarg. The agency further said that in the event of unavailability of the Kanjurmarg plot, Line 6 will have to get a car shed at Pahadi Goregaon, Line 3 at Aarey, and Line 4 at Thane’s Mogharpada.
The land acquisition and other costs for these three plots would come up to ₹4,656 crores, the MMRDA said. Keeping this in mind, the agency emphasised the importance of having an integrated car shed so as to utilize all resources and infrastructure without further burdening the exchequer.
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