Land acquisition, delays in existing road projects stall expressways proposal
The first phase of the Mumbai Metro Rail project will be operational in the next eight to nine months, Mr Ratnakar Gaikwad, Maharashtra Chief Secretary said on Thursday.
The 11.07 km first phase will link Versova-Andheri in western suburbs to Ghatkohar in Eastern suburbs.
The other corridors in the metro project include the 38-km Colaba-Mahim-Charkop route and the 14-km Bandra-Kurla-Mankhurd route
The total length of the metro rail network is about 450 km and the investment is Rs.1.7 lakh crore, said Mr. Gaikwad. He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference on infrastructure projects in Mumbai held jointly by PGK Infrastructure and Belgian Embassy in India.
Mr. Gaikwad said that the Monorail project in Mumbai is also likely to be commissioned in the next six to eight months time. According to officials, the monorail’s testing will be first conducted on the nearly 5km-long Wadala-Mysore Colony route in Mumbai.
The monorail will connect the eastern suburb of Chembur with Wadala in central Mumbai with an 8.26 km elevated corridor. Once completed, it will be world’s second longest Monorail corridor. Said to be ideal for urban congested corridors, the monorail will operate with a carrying capacity of 568 passengers, initially.
The Chief Secretary said that the state plans to invest to the tune of $ 3 trillion on infrastructure projects till 2031. He said that by 2012 the state would be self sufficient in power and aimed to generate another 8,000 megawatts of power by 2015 to cater to the growing demands of the state in the power sector.
On the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), Mr. Gaikwad said that the bidding process will start in the next two to three months time. The MTHL is proposed to be developed as an Expressway link with a six-lane dual carriageway road bridge and rail bridge connecting Sewri on Mumbai side to Nhava on Navi Mumbai side.
Water supply management was another major area of concern for the state, he said. A few potential sights has been identified and earmarked for dams and water distribution systems on public-private partnership models.
Mr. Gaikwad said that Maharashtra accounted for 15 per cent of the national income with a 10.5 per cent rate of growth and 9.1 per cent GDP growth, despite recession. With a vast coastline of 720 km, there was tremendous scope for tourism development and port development, he added.
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