Mumbai : After the seven metro corridors in Mumbai, Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan will be the next in line to get a metro corridor.
A techno-economic feasibility study conducted by D’Appolonia SpA, an Italian consultant appointed by Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) to study the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan transport corridor, has revealed the need for a metro corridor in the region.
According to the study, the largely industrial belt which is undergoing rapid urbanisation with the growth of middle and high income residential enclaves, the traffic density in the corridor is set to go up to over 15,000 commuters in either direction during the peak hours. This, says Hanoze Thakkar, country manager for the Italian firm, is an clear indicator of the need for a metro line in the coming years.
Under section 41 C the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, the State government had appointed MMRDA as the special planning authority for 27 villages from Kalyan and 60 villages from Bhiwandi which were notified in August 2006 and March 2007. In December 2012, MMRDA submitted its draft development plans for both the notified areas to the government and the government sanctioned the development plans in March 2015.
According to the DPR formulated by the consultant, the proposed development plans will lead to a spike in travel demand in the region. Expected peak traffic hour demand on the 23.6 km Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan corridor has been assessed at 17,500 Peak Hour Per Direction Traffic. “Considering the peak hour passenger demand there will be a need for metro based Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) for the corridor,” said Thakkar. He added that the metro corridor would provide fast, safe, economic and environment-friendly mode for mass movement of passengers.
Thane and Kalyan are major trip generating locations in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). “A large number of people originate and end in each of the zones like Thane and Kalyan,” said the consultant.
Considerable population of working class is residing in Thane and Kalyan. Bhiwandi is a hub for warehouses and small scale industries which causes it to become a major trip attraction zone. The DPR also mentions the fact that there is a lack of connectivity between these three zones.
The DPR also mentions that besides having railway stations at Thane and Kalyan, most of the time suburban rails have a passenger volume which is more than passenger loading capacity of the suburban railway causing high level of discomfort to the commuters.
MMRDA had appointed an Italian company, D’AppoloniaSpA, to study the techno-economic feasibility of Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan region which was conducted in April 2015.
The mandate for the Italy-based consultant was to propose a metro or a mono rail corridor for the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan.
“The metro would be constructed on the top of the road for Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan stretch which would be similar to the metro corridor in Versova-Andheri-Ghatkoper.
The metro corridor would start from Kapurbawdi in Thane to ShivajiChowk in Kalyan. Around 16 stations are planned for Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan corridor.
“In future, several other metro corridors proposed like Wadala-Thane, Versova-Ghatkoper and Andheri-Dahisar will be well connected to Thane-Kalyan-Bhiwandi metro corridor for integrated network,” said Thakkar.
“The entire stretch of Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan has wider roads and has no sharp curve which also allows us to construct a metro corridor in the region,” added a consultant.
“We had given them nine months to conduct the feasibility study, however, we recently gave them an extension and have asked them to submit the DPR by May 31,” said an MMRDA official.
“Once the DPR is submitted by the consultant, we will finally decide whether to construct a metro or monorail corridor for Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan,” said a MMRDA official.
