Mumbai: In a crucial decision that will ensure the Mumbai Metro lines 4 (Wadala – Ghatkopar – Thane – Kasarvadavli) and 4A (Kasarvadavli – Gaimukh) get operationalised, the Maharashtra state cabinet on Wednesday approved handing over of 174.01 hectares of land at Mogharpada in Thane to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
“The 174.01 hectares of land at Mogharpada in Thane (along the Ghodbunder Road) is critical for the projects of Metro 4, 4A, 10 (Gaimukh – Shivaji Chowk, Mira Road) and 11 (Wadala – CSMT), Coastal Road and others. We have decided to hand the land over to the MMRDA,” announced Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
At this location, for the car shed, residential as well as industrial development, MMRDA will be the special planning authority, Fadnavis added.
“On the Mogharpada plot, there are 167 farmers on lease and another 31 encroachers. MMRDA will compensate them while acquiring the land parcels for the project,” said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Last month, The Free Press Journal reported about the development authority adopting the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) model for land acquisition and compensation. The leaseholders will be compensated 22.5% of the developed land, whereas, the encroacher will get 12.5% of the developed property.
In November 2022, MMRDA initiated a bid to seek infrastructure firms for the car depot construction project. The joint venture of SEW Infrastructure and Vishwa Samudra Engineering emerged as the lowest bidders, quoting Rs905.77 crore for the car depot’s creation.
The end-to-end stretch of both metro lines of 4 and 4A, altogether, spans 35.20km, with Metro 4 covering 32.32km and Metro 4A encompassing 2.88km. Originally, planning to conduct the biggest car depot at this location, MMRDA revised its plans due to challenges in land acquisition.
In another development, the state government has approved Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation’s (MMRC’s) proposal to take a bridge loan of Rs1,000 crore. The need for a bridge loan has arisen due to escalation in Mumbai Metro 3 (Colaba – Bandra Kurla Complex – SEEPZ) project from Rs23,136 crore to Rs37,276 crore. The hike in project cost is owing to additional costs for relief and rehabilitation, transit rents, civil and system contracts, administrative expenses, among others.
