Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (MMRDA) plan of setting up a new network of metro rail across Mumbai is gathering speed. Last year, first phase of metro corridor connecting Versova to Ghatkopar with an 11.40 km elevated corridor was inaugurated.

This year the MMRDA wants to initiate metro projects worth Rs 73,000 crore so that citizens of Mumbai region could get to travel seamlessly on about 120 km of metro track in the next five to seven years.

Commissioner of MMRD, Urvinder Pal Singh Madan said the funding for most of the projects is tied up now and it is a matter of clearances and executions. Excerpts from an interview

The first phase of Mumbai metro is up and running but it is only 12 km, when are the next phases expected to come up?

The second phase of metro line connecting Charkop in western suburbs to Mankhurd in eastern suburbs ran in environmental and coastal regulation zones issues, therefore the MMRDA decided to it to extend the line up to Dahisar in western suburbs and build the line totally underground. In effect the second phase has merged with fourth phase, creating 40 km of metro corridor at a project cost of Rs 30,000 crore.

At the earlier planned site car shed faced environment problems therefore in the new plan the car shed would be on State Government land at Mankhurd. The second phase in the new avatar is now awaiting clearance from the Centre and Maharashtra Government. It would be built on EPC basis and loans would be borrowed from multilateral agencies.

The work on the third phase, which will connect Colaba is south Mumbai to Seepz area in Andheri is now being fast tracked and MMRDA hopes to call tenders for the Rs 23,000 crore by February. The funding for this phase has been tied up with a soft loan of Rs 13,000 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency. Rest of the money would be in the form of equity infusion by the Centre and State Government.

Phase five and six, which are in advance stages of planning will require another Rs 20,000 crore funding.

Will MMRDA would be in a position to pay such huge loans?

They are soft loans of long tenure and given the passenger demand and ridership, the MMRDA will not only be able to pay the loans but save enough for the operation and maintenance cost. On some of the lines there would be some commercial development, which will also earn revenues for the MMRDA.

Given the geology Mumbai and close proximity to the sea, are not worried about underground excavations and its hazards?

Laying of these underground lines is not a new technology. Many cities across the work have laid the lines in similar conditions. Today there are enough technologies available to mitigate the risk. MMRDA has also sought help of international geological experts for underground tunnelling.

But the work of tunnelling is time consuming as it requires importing of tunnel boring machines, which have to be custom made for specific tunnel sizes.

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