Mumbai: The Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop project is still on the cards and it will be implemented using the Swiss Challenge Method, Maharashtra Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde told the Legislative Council on Wednesday.
Conceptualised by the Devendra Fadnavis-led government, the hyperloop project aims to reduce the travel time between Pune and Mumbai from around three hours to just 25 minutes and it would be the first such system in the world.
Incidentally, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar last month had said the state government will consider the Hyperloop project if it is shown to be practicable in other countries.
Pawar had pointed out that this futuristic mode of transport has not been implemented anywhere else in the world as yet.
Shinde on Wednesday made the announcement in a written reply to a question raised by Congress MLC Sharad Ranpise and stated that the project will be implemented using Swiss Challenge Method.
Under this method, an interested party initiates a proposal for a contract or the bid for a project, after which the government makes details of the project public and invites proposals from others.
After receiving other bids, the original contractor gets an opportunity to match the best bid. A meeting of Dubai-based DP World officials, Pune district collector and other stakeholders had taken place on May 3, 2019, he said.
"The meeting was about finalising a stretch of barren land from Gahunje to Ozarde for constructing a testing track," he said.
The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 70,000 crore and it will be implemented by Virgin Hyperloop One.
Bldg collapses: 106 deaths in five years in Mumbai
Incidents of building collapse claimed 106 lives in Mumbai during 2015 to 2019, the Legislative Council was informed. The information was given by Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde in a written reply to a question by Congress's Husnabanu Khalife.
"There were 1,472 incidents of building collapse (in Mumbai city and suburbs) during 2015 to 2019 in which 106 people lost their lives while another 344 were injured,” said the reply.
677 killed in 56,145 fire incidents in 11 yrs: Govt
As many as 5,427 fire incidents, 17 of them serious, were reported in Mumbai in 2019, the highest compared to the annual figures recorded in the preceding two years, Shinde said, informing the Upper House that 56,145 fire incidents took place in the metropolis from 2008 to 2019 in which 677 people were killed.
Most of the fire incidents in Mumbai last year occurred due to "faulty" power network in the affected premises, he said, replying to a question by Janardan Chandurkar (Congress).
The calendar year 2019 reported the highest number of fire incidents in Mumbai, that is 5,427. Out of these, 17 cases were of serious nature," Shinde said.
The minister, however, did not provide the figures for 2017 and 2018, but said 2019 reported the highest number of fire incidents in Mumbai compared to the previous two years.
Most of the fire incidents were caused by 'faulty electricity network'. In this regard, power supplying companies have been served notices under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, he told the Upper House.
Similar action has been taken against buildings where fire extinguishing systems were found to be poorly maintained, Shinde added.
