Metro work slower than a snail - Mid Day 29th Oct, 2010

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/oct/291010-snail-MMRDA-Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar-Metro-site-mumbai.htm

By: Ranjeet Jadhav   Date:  2010-10-29   Place: Mumbai

No relief for Mumbai's commuters in sight, as only 3 km of the 11-km metro stretch is complete; more than 100 pillars yet to be built by June 2011 deadline. Architect drags MMRDA to court The Metro seems to be a long way from completion, going by the amount of work that's left to be done. Barely 3 km of the 11-km stretch of the Versova- Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor has been completed for now. This includes the viaduct or the tubular structure through which Metro trains will pass. Moreover, of the 424 pillars on the route, 320 have been erected. Of these, viaducts have been placed on 130 pillars. Besides this, the issue of constructing a bridge over Andheri railway station and above the Western Express Highway is yet to be done. And work at various stations is still in progress. Not a single station is fully complete. Despite all this, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is optimistic. It says the civil work on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor will be completed before deadline June 2011. Time frame "Work is moving at a snail's pace. Even if MMRDA works round the clock, it will not be able to complete the civil work before deadline," said architect Nitin Killawala who has filed a public interest litigation against the MMRDA, mentioning the slow pace of work on this corridor. "Work at 22 road junctions that dot the route that connects the western suburbs to the eastern side, is still to begin. Only a 3-km stretch has the viaduct. When will MMRDA install it on the remaining 8 km?" Construction work at the various road junctions on the 11-km stretch will prove to be a daunting task for MMRDA. MMRDA will be able to carry out work only during the night as it can cause traffic jams if the work goes on during the daytime. A spokesperson of Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd, which has been appointed to complete the civil work, rubbished Killawala's claims. "Work on the stretch is on in full swing. The civil work would be completed by June 2011," said the spokesperson. "MMRDA has set August 2012 as the official deadline, and we are one year ahead of this time frame." To buttress his claim, he said MMRDA had written to MMOPL, praising it for the pace at which work was going on. "Yes, they are running ahead of time," said MMRDA Joint Project Director Dilip Kawatkar. "Besides, we have made it clear to them that the deadline to complete civil work is June 2011 which will not be extended by even a day." An eyewash? Killawala, however, said such letters are intended to mislead the government and the public at large. "MMRDA's letter to MMOPL is nothing but an attempt to mislead the common man," Killawala said. "If you go out and take a look at the construction work along the route, you will realise civic work will not be completed in time. I feel it will take more than eight years to complete the work." He said MMRDA, the supervisory body for the Metro project, should have pulled up MMOPL for its shoddy work. "Far from it, MMRDA seems to be hand in glove with MMOPL," alleged Killawala. "MMRDA was supposed to construct 424 pillars on the entire route. Of these, only 320 pillars have been set up. Worse still, only 130 of these pillars have the viaduct on them," said Killawala. "MMRDA should first do its homework properly before making tall claims." Work in progress at the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro site Kawatkar, however, expressed confidence that civil work on the stretch would be completed by June 2011."We are hopeful that Metro trains will start plying by August 2011. That's almost a year ahead of the time of completion of the project." So, will MMRDA be able to place the viaduct on the remaining 8-km stretch of the Metro? "The viaducts are ready in our workshop. All we have to do is transport them and place them on pillars," Kawatkar said. "This will not take much time." What 'Metro Man' said... Indian technocrat E Sreedharan, who has the credit of completing the Delhi Metro and Konkan Railway projects within budget and ahead of schedule, was in Mumbai recently. He said that the Mumbai Metro One, being undertaken by the Anil Ambani group, is very much beyond schedule. He has headed Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for more than a decade. And why we should listen to him... >In 1963, a huge tidal wave washed away parts of Pamban Bridge that connected Rameshwaram to mainland Tamil Nadu. The Railways set a target of six months for the bridge to be repaired while Sreedharan's boss, under whose jurisdiction the bridge came, reduced it to three months. Sreedharan was put in-charge of the execution and he restored the bridge in just 46 days. The Railway minister's Award was given to him in recognition of this achievement. In 1970, as the deputy chief engineer, he was put in charge for implementation, planning and design of Calcutta metro, the first ever metro in India. He was appointed the CMD of Konkan Railway on contract in 1990. Under his stewardship, the company executed its mandate in seven years. He was made the managing director of Delhi Metro and by mid-2005, all the scheduled sections were completed by their target date or before and within their respective budgets. The Other Side The deadline to complete civil work is June 2011 which will not be extended by even a day ¦  The viaducts are ready in our workshop. All we have to do is transport them and place them on pillars MMRDA Joint Project Director Dilip Kawatkar 3 kmStretch of metro rail completed in 32 months 60Number of hours it would take a snail to cover the distance