Mumbai : Even as the state government is yet to decide on a location to house the car depot for the Metro-III corridor, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) is positive that if the government opts for Kanjurmarg, it will not create any hindrance in commissioning the project in time.
The expert committee, appointed by the chief minister, has submitted its report with the option of a plot at Kanjurmarg as an alternative to Aarey Colony. If Kanjurmarg is given the go-ahead by the chief minister, the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ corridor will have to be extended by nearly 9 km up to Kanjurmarg. The committee has also kept the option of Aarey Colony alive with modification if the plot at Kanjurmarg, which is under litigation, isn’t given to MMRC in the stipulated time.
According to Ashwini Bhide, managing director, MMRC, in either case — Aarey Colony or Kanjurmarg — the implementation agency now has a solution and the project is no longer in a limbo. “If Kanjurmarg is opted for by the state government… we won’t have any negative impact on the project. In a scenario in which the handover of the Kanjurmarg plot is delayed by some months, we can still commission the project using the stabling lines at Aarey Colony. Looking at this option, we won’t have any hindrance in the timely commissioning of the project,” said Bhide.
The maintenance of the modern rolling stocks, according to Bhide, is not an issue as these rolling stocks are state-of-the-art and virtually ‘maintenance-free’. “The maintenance of modern rolling stocks is not a problem as they don’t need maintenance from the very first day; only daily cleaning is needed. Otherwise they are maintenance-free. Even if it’s a matter of a few months, we can do this through a small facility from Aarey,” she said.
In fact, if the corridor is extended up to Kanjurmarg, it will only bring forward the construction of a corridor that is on the metro master plan of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and will provide another east-west metro corridor. The Jogeshwari-SEEPZ-Kanjurmarg corridor is slated to go over the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR). Since the detailed project report for the Jogeshwari-SEEPZ-Kanjurmarg metro corridor is already in place, the MMRC will not have to go back to the drawing board.
swapnil rawal
