The successive Maharashtra governments have failed to honour Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of creating 275km Metro network in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), with only 46.5 km of metro rail ready so far, 154.4 km to be ready only a few years later and another 42.72 km still in the advanced stages of planning.
The Economic Survey of Maharashtra tabled on Wednesday in the Legislative Assembly shows that the State Government is lagging behind by years in creating the network.
In the MMR, 11 metro projects are in the works or still in the advanced stages of planning, and so far only three have been commissioned. Mumbai Metro 1 of Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar, line 2A of Dahisar-Andheri West (DN Nagar) and line 7 of Dahisar East-Gundavali (Andheri Western Express Highway) are the ones in operation.
Back in December 2018, during the ground laying ceremony of Mumbai Metro 5 between Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan and line 9 running from Dahisar East to Bhayandar, it was announced, “We promise to bring more than 275km long metro network for you by 2024.”
Over four years since the foundation stone was laid for Metro Lines 5 and 9, both are not even half ready (see box). In fact, locating a car depot is one of the biggest hurdles in executing the projects of Metro 4, 4A, 5, 6 and 9.
Also, for the last 12 years now, Navi Mumbai Metro Line 1 (between CBD Belapur and Pendhar) has been nothing but street furniture as it is still not ready for public commute.
