Mumbai: In keeping with the overall tenor of the budget, Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu has outlined a blueprint for mobility in the maximum city for the coming years, encompassing both men and material. However, the budget failed to cheer Mumbaikars who had high expectations from Prabhu – a former Shiv Sainik and now a BJP man.
The budget, presented on Thursday, outlines mega projects for Mumbai such as two elevated rail corridors on both the central and western corridors and in-principle approvals for MUTP III extending connectivity at the extremities of the city while keeping suburban fares intact.
Other schemes that will benefit the city are a new dedicated freight corridor between Mumbai and Kharagpur in addition to the one already announced between Mumbai and Delhi.The minister has promised early financial closure and award of tenders for the two elevated suburban corridors between Churchgate-Virar and CSTM (VT)-Panvel. He also announced a rail corridor connecting the proposed airport at Panvel with the suburban networks.
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Regular commuters, however, are feeling a bit let down by the macro emphasis of the budget presented by someone most consider a son of the soil. They felt that the daily issues that they face while travelling have been totally ignored in the budget. For instance, it is totally silent on issues such as passenger safety in a city that sees an accident at least once a month. Low hanging fruits such as provision of medical facilities at stations would have won hearts and minds in the city, said activists.
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Transport experts like Ashok Datar also seem baffled why so much money is being spent for creating north-south connectivity when the state government is constructing Metro rails. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has chalked out plans for corridors from Colaba to SEEPZ via Bandra, Dahisar to Airport and Dahisar to Mankhurd via Bandra, which will all be integrated and serve as an alternative to the suburban railway network.
