Metro will come to city on time: MMRDA - Hindustan Times - 3rd Nov, 2010

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Metro-will-come-to-city-on-time-MMRDA/Article1-621515.aspx

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, November 03, 2010

Dismissing fears of any delay in the Metro rail project, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on Tuesday reiterated that work on the first phase of the Metro would be over by June 2011. The assurance comes after the Western Railway (WR) on Monday turned down a request to provide four hours each day for the next 57 days to complete the rail overbridge at the Andheri station.

Claiming that 68% of the work on the project was done, MMRDA metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said that despite the roadblocks, the project was on schedule.

“The Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route is one of the toughest to execute. However, we have
drawn up concrete plans on how to execute the rest of the project and we are confident of following the schedule.”

According to Gaikwad, the first Metro station to be commissioned would be the one at Asalpha in Ghatkopar.

“The station will be the first out of the nine to be completed. This will be over within the next four months,” he said, adding that barring one, all the other stations would be ready by April-end.

“The Western Express Highway station will be delayed, as the work there has been delayed. This one station will be ready by June 2011.”

Gaikwad, however, refused to concede that there would be delays because of the WR’s refusal to give Mumbai Metro One private Ltd (MMOPL) the four hours a day.

“We’ll speak to the WR officials and ensure that a negotiated settlement does no harm to our project.”

A senior MMRDA official, however, said delays would be inevitable.

“We will have to sit down with the WR officials and try to reach a settlement. They had told us that they could only give two hours every day, between the last train and the first train. Hence, we’ll have to push ahead the completion date by a few days.”

According to architect and planner Nitin Killawala the MMRDA’s claims are hogwash.

“There is no way these authorities would have completed 68% of the work.”