The Metro Line 7 (Dahisar East to Andheri East) and 2A (Dahisar west to DN Nagar) rakes delivery will be delayed by four to five months, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) Commissioner R A Rajeev told the Free Press Journal on Friday. Due to this, the commercial operation of Metro line 7 and 2A deadline will be missed.
He explained, "BEML (Bharat Earth Movers Limited) is providing the metro coaches for line 7 and 2A. In August 2020, the first metro coach was expected to be delivered as per the contractual timelines. However, it will arrive only by December now. Similarly, the additional 10 metro coaches will arrive in June 2021 instead of December 2020. We are anticipating a delay of four to five months as workflow in both civil construction work and system supply has slowed down due to lockdown."
He further stated that due to the shortage of labourers, as several of them left the city, various infrastructure construction is being carried on with only 30 per cent of manpower.
Reportedly, the metro lines 7 and 2A were expected to commence commercial operations by December 2020. The 18.6-km-long Metro 2A is estimated to cost Rs 6,410 crore, while the 16.5-km Metro-7 project is expected to cost Rs 6,208 crore. The MMRDA is the nodal authority for the various Metro lines covering 337-km network in the MMR.
Meanwhile, the MMRDA recently received scissor crossing rails for Charkop depot ramp manufactured by Sonipat.
