“The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has been informed about the delays in the metro project,” said Ashwini Bhide, managing director, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC). This underground metro alignment has been listed in the PMO's ‘Pragati List’.
While work on the ground for the 33.5km-long Colaba-Bandra-Seepz underground metro line hasn’t taken off yet, the project is already 18 months behind schedule. The proposed car depot at Aarey Milk Colony has itself delayed the entire project by six months. Financially, this translates into a loss (increase in project cost) of Rs3 crore per day, or around Rs1,600 crore for the entire period of 18 months.
“The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has been informed about the delays in the metro project,” said Ashwini Bhide, managing director, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC). This underground metro alignment has been listed in the PMO's ‘Pragati List’.
The union Cabinet gave the nod for this implementation of this transport project on June 27, 2013. After that, it took a year for the state government to give its own nod and conduct the MMRC board's first meeting. Here itself there was a setback of around 12 months.
Once the planning process commenced, protests from environmentalists against the car depot at Aarey Milk Colony resulted in a committee being formed to look for alternatives. Kanjurmarg was selected as an option for the same, for which clearance from chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is needed, but he still hasn’t taken a call on the subject. This meant that the project timeline was pushed back by another six months.
In August 2014, bids were called for the construction of a boundary retaining wall and RCC storm water drain, and for ground development at the site for the car depot in Aarey Milk Colony. “But this bid has lapsed. We will have to go through a fresh bidding process,” Bhide said.
Moreover, the ownership of the plot of land at Kanjurmarg proposed for the car depot is disputed and a petition on the same is being heard in the Bombay High Court.
Due to these factors and calculating the loss of Rs3 crore daily, the project is already facing losses of Rs1,600-1,700 crores.
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