Metro lines fast-tracked to reduce pressure on Mumbai trains

Mumbai, October 1 : The Maharashtra Government has decided to speed up construction of Metro lines across Mumbai following the stampede at the Elphinstone Road railway station on Friday that claimed 23 lives. At a meeting held with various officials on Saturday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asked them to fast-track construction of eight major Metro lines that will link downtown Mumbai to the distant suburbs.“The original deadline for completing three metro lines is the last quarter of 2019 while the rest are to be completed over the next few years. But after Friday’s incident construction would be speeded up on all of them,” a state government official said. Unlike railway infrastructure, the Metro lines are being constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which has tied up with private contractors and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to carry out the civil engineering work. Officials said the contractors who have been roped into carry out the construction. work would be incentivised for completing the projects ahead of the deadline. However officials refused to divulge details of the incentives that would be paid to the contractors.Mumbai presently has just a single 11.40 km Metro line in operation that runs in the East-West direction connecting Versova and Andheri in the Western suburbs with Ghatkopar. Two lines connecting Dahisar East and West in the distant suburbs are being connected with Andheri and D NNagar respectively. The line terminating at DN Nagar is sought to be extended to Mankhurd across the sea. However, say officials, the extension line would take at least 3-4 years and the 2020 deadline is unlikely to be met.