The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) undertaking the Metro Line 5 (Phase 1- Thane Bhiwandi) has revised the deadline of the project to 2024. The earlier deadline of the Phase 1, was 2022. According to the officials, due to the outbreak of Novel coronavirus induced pandemic and availability of limited manpower along with other reasons have affected the project timeline.
The Metro Line 5 --Phase 1 project will have six stations. In the month of March, April, May, June and July 2020, with nearly 236 workers on board, the phase 1 metro work is underway. So far, about 4-5 per cent of the overall metro work has been completed. Besides, 33 pier work has been completed and 457 piers are yet to be built. About 3 per cent of station work and 5.2 per cent of viaduct work has been attained, according to the MMRDA.
The entire 24.5 km Metro Line 5 (Thane--Bhiwandi--Kalyan) is estimated to cost Rs 8,416 crore. This line's Phase 1 (Kapurbawadi in Thane – Dhamankar Naka in Bhiwandi) is under construction but the second phase route towards Kalyan is on hold due to opposition from local residents and shopkeepers over acquisition of their properties, demanding shifting of alignment reportedly. Once this entire Metro line is operational it will provide a major relief to the interior parts of Bhiwandi, Kalyan and Thane.
