Mumbai: MMRDA appoints sub-contractor for delayed Metro 4 civil packages

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has appointed a sub-contractor for the Metro Line 4's (Wadala-Thane-Kasarwadavli) Lal Bahadur Shashtri (LBS) Marg stretch and other two stretches along Thane's Godbunder and Wadala with civil packages comprising a total of 18 km alignment. The move comes due to delays caused by the appointed main contractor consortium (Reliance and Astaldi). With the new development, the Metro Line 4 which was earlier scheduled to be ready by 2022, will take two more years for completion as per the revised timeline.

Meanwhile, local residents have alleged that the work hasn't even fully begun yet.

Shirish Daudkhane, spokesperson for the Kanjurmarg Bhandup Clean ALM which has raised traffic issues due to the metro barricades, said, “No man or machinery can be seen on site. We are going to complain to the officer. If a sub contractor has been appointed, there should be some sort of work but that is not the case,” He further added that another contractor of Metro Line 4 of another package adjacent to LBS has completed major works. “I asked why they don't carry out work on this stretch since they have the manpower and machinery on the same road. They say that if they do this particular stretch, any bills and liabilities not cleared by the previous contractor may fall on them,” Daudkhane explained.

The Free Press Journal had reported on how LBS Marg residents living in high-rise buildings near the construction are largely affected due to the Metro barricades that have blocked the main road, while hardly any work had been done along the stretch so far.

The under construction Metro Line 4 is expected to provide seamless connectivity between Thane and Mumbai. Around 25 per cent of the 32.32-km-long metro corridor has been completed so far.