Monorail to stay off tracks for indefinite period: MMRDA

Mumbai's monorail is convenient despite the short distance it covers in the city. But over the last few months, this mode of transport seems to be jinxed as it has been affected by unfortunate incidents in the last few months.

Once again, the monorail was affected due to an electric fire on Thursday morning around 5:15 am, and this has raised questions relating to its function and systems. The functioning of monorail is expected to begin soon, however, it will resume only after the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority’s (MMRDA) commissioner gives a green signal. 

MMRDA's joint project director Dilip Kawathkar issued a statement saying that MMRDA will appoint an independent committee headed by P.S. Baghel, retired commissioner of railway safety, western circle, to inquire into the fire incident. Further, the MMRDA officials are also unsure about the monorail schedule. 

Fire adds to the fury

Three years back, Mumbaikars welcomed this mode of transport which runs between Chembur and Wadala from morning 5:00 am tonight 12:00 am. However, in the last three years, the monorail has not received a good response because of which, on a daily basis, the monorail is suffering losses worth six to seven lakhs.

Also read - Fire Breaks Out On The Monorail; No Casualties Reported

And now, the fire is only expected to make the matter worse as the monorail will be shut down for an indefinite period of time. This will also affect passengers who used this mode of commuting.

Though the fire was doused immediately, it will take some time to clear the track. We will also inspect the compartment and only then will bring back the monorail on tracks. We are not sure how much time it will take to start the monorail,” said Dilip Kawathkar, PRO, MMRDA.

Here are the number of 'jinxed' monorail incidents

2015 - Monorail shut down at Bhakti Park station due to the electricity failure
2016 - Monorail stopped functioning between Chembur and Wadala for four hours.
2017 - A slab fell down in October when second-phase of monorail i.e Wadala to Jacob Circle was under-construction, no casualty was reported.
2017 - In the month of July, two monorails dashed against each other but there was no casualty reported