The Mumbai Metropolitan Development Authority projections indicate that the metropolitan region will have a population of 3.4 crore by 2031 and six districts such as Navi Mumbai (334 sq km) will be needed to accommodate the populace.

In the Mumbai metropolitan region, Greater Mumbai measures 468 sq km and the rest of the region accounts for 3,887 sq km.

Mr G.R. Madan, Director - MRTS, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, told an infrastructure conference here that the MMR development plan up to 2031 could be the largest in terms of geographical area in the world.

“We cannot plan for more than 30 years as every region undergoes changes in its demography, technology and hence the infrastructure requirements. By 2031, we would need six more Navi Mumbais to accommodate the estimated population of 34 million,” he said.

Metro rail projects will be essential to address the future demand, he said.

As of now, the suburban trains' coaches are equipped to accommodate 5-6 passengers a sq metre. The acceptable limit is up to eight a sq metre though in reality it is operating at over 15. The government is investing to enhance the rail capacity to reduce the load but it could not serve on routes other than the existing ones. The only solution to this is the metro corridors, he pointed out.

Mr Madan said that the completion of the 11-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar metro line is possible by this November-end and it is estimated that about 5 lakh people will use the service.

Related Topics