Mumbai : With the commuters on the Harbour line struggling every day in cramped in nine-coach trains, a 240-sq-metre piece of land at Wadala is one of the reasons holding up the work of extension of platforms to accommodate 12-car locals.
The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC), which is executing the work of extending platforms on Harbour line stations to accommodate 12-coach trains, are stuck at Wadala. The 240 sq-metre land, which belongs to Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) and lies to the south end of platform number 4, is required to extend the platform. However, after a year-long correspondence between the two agencies, nothing seems to be working out. Te MRVC had asked the port trust to hand over the piece of land in exchange of a land of same area at another location. But the same was denied by the port trust authorities on the pretext that permission for the transfer will have to be procured from the Central government.
An official from MRVC said: “The land can be granted to us for a period of 30 years on lease which we have agreed to. Yet the file is merely being transferred from one official to the other for over a year now.” MRVC has already passed its deadline of completing the work by March 2015 and are now working towards completing it by December 2016.
They are also constructing another siding line at Wadala for stabling the trains. Once the extension work at Wadala is complete, the platforms at CST will be extended to accommodate 12-car locals. A 72-hour block will be required for the extension work of platform at CST.
