Save our Suburbs

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Response - Report in today’s DNA : “MMRDA unveils plan for 14 more Metro Routes”

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Response - Report in today’s DNA : “MMRDA unveils plan for 14 more Metro Routes”

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It is very intriguing that the CBM route for which PPP contract was signed way back in 2009 with Reliance Infra - the estimated cost is Rs. 360 crores /km. for Elevated Metro for CBM Route.

Now as per today’s report in DNA the Elevated Metro unveiled by MMRDA for 14 more routes around Mumbai, for which the estimated costs of most of the routes are ranging from Rs. 115 crores/km. to Rs. 145 crores/km.

This proves that the finances of the ‘PPP’ partner are protected at extremely high costs and we, the citizens are silent spectators to misappropriation of exchequers funds by MMRDA and the Government.

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NITIN KILLAWALA: ARCHITECT

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Article Link

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_mmrda-unveils-plan-for-14-more-metro-routes_1541366

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MMRDA unveils plan for 14 more metro routes

Published: Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 4:18 IST

By Ninad Siddhaye | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

With the first two routes of the metro already under construction and the third in the pipeline, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has now decided to go beyond the city.

It already has announced the Mumbai Metro Master Plan of nine corridors, and recently the officials of the authority came up with 14 more routes in the metropolitan region- which the authority intends to commence by 2031.

In a presentation given to the UK Railway Industries Association in March this year, MMRDA revealed these 14 additional metro lines of close to 300kms within the MMR. While most of these lines are in the Thane district as well as the Navi Mumbai and Mira-Bhyanadar region, some of them are also within the city limits of the BMC.

Confirming the development, MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar said that these lines are a part of a Comprehensive Transport Study (CTS) done by the Lea Associates. “As per the vision to make Mumbai a world class city, a metro network of 450kms is already envisaged. The total cost of this metro network is Rs93897 crore,” informed Kawathkar.

While the first two routes of the Mumbai Metro Master Plan- Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar and Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd- are on a Public-Private-Partnership basis, the model for funding for the rest of them is yet to be decided.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

TOI: 4th May, 2011- Metro to slip under road in S Delhi

Metro to slip under road in S Delhi

Not To Be Elevated Because Of Dense Traffic, Flyovers & Underpasses

Rumu Banerjee TNN

New Delhi: The Phase III of Delhi Metro, covering 108km of the city, will be going through some of the most congested localities in Delhi. A nightmare in the making for residents living along the alignment? Not really.
    Unlike in the past, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) this time has gone in for a judicious mix of underground and elevated corridors — a far cry from its stance in the previous phases where it proffered to go elevated. The two main corridors of the third phase, Janakpuri (west) to Botanical Gardens and Mukundpur to Yamuna Vihar, are aligned along the Outer and Inner Ring Roads, making their way through highly congested localities. Officials say that with DMRC opting to go underground in the most crowded parts of the corridors, the construction is expected to be easier than in the two previous phases.
    A senior DMRC official, explaining the decision to have more than 50% of the alignment in the south Delhi corridor below the ground, said: “This line will be going through areas that are highly congested. Heavy traffic and the presence of flyovers and underpasses made us rethink the strategy to have elevated corridors here.”
    Officials say that while elevated stretches make more economic sense as they are comparatively less expensive, the stretches also require far more space to work in. The official said: “Piers need to go deeper underground when the elevated stretch goes above the road and a flyover. In such an area, going underground makes more techno-economic sense.”
    For residents, the decision is a welcome one. Over the years, Delhi Metro has been under fire for opting to go overground even in the localities that had congested or arterial roads, like the Moolchand stretch. In many localities, the tall piers of the elevated corridor marred the landscape, said residents. DMRC is expecting the alignment for the third phase to get more appreciation. “Better technology is available now, so the decision to go underground is easier,” admitted the official. The preference of the Delhi Metro head, E Sreedharan, for elevated corridors — as these are economically more viable — is well known in the Metro circle.

Monday, December 6, 2010

“METRO IN 2011 FAR FETCHED” - Lets start a Public debate on what should be the punishment to all those in authorities for deliberately misleading the public trust and giving false hopes all the time in the guise of “Public Interest”

METRO LINE – 1 – VERSOVA – ANDHERI – GHATKOPAR ROUTE

RESPONSE ON TODAY’S (6^TH DECEMBER 2010) ARTICLE IN DNA

“METRO IN 2011 FARFETCHED”

Skywalks abandoned by MMRDA after destroying streets of suburban Mumbai. Yet no question asked. Very soon we may see similar fate of Metro Rail after crippling our lives on the arterial roads of our city.

We have all forgotten December 2010 deadline for Metro – 1 without questioning MMRDA or MMOPL ? Soon we shall forget June 2011 deadline and may be forced to accept monstrous and horrendous structures as antiques, in the middle of roads, for rest of our lives.

Now it is proved that the authorities who have 26% stake in the project, has been misappropriating exchequer’s funds in the name of “Public interest”.

The ongoing work as per the report in DNA, it can be easily concluded that the actual Civil Work done till date on this project cannot be more than 15%. The time and money spend on this Elevated Metro routes is going to surpass that of Underground Metro, if ever it sees the light of the day.

Remember, any Rail based transport project are designed for at least a 100 years which should benefit even our great grand children. British regime constructed Railways in Bombay before our grandparents were born! Therefore it is inevitable to construct underground Metro in dense, congested and over developed city like our Suburbs. Cost and time are secondary for such vital Projects.

In the mean time let there be public debate about what should be the punishment to all those in authorities for deliberately misleading the public trust and giving false hopes all the time in the guise of “Public Interest”?

NITIN KILLAWALA: ARCHITECT

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Article Link

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_metro-in-2011-far-fetched-but-mmrda-says-all-is-well_1477213
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Metro in 2011 far-fetched, but MMRDA says all is well

Published: Monday, Dec 6, 2010, 2:22 IST
By Ninad Siddhaye | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA

Will Mumbai see its first metro in 2011? The official answer to this question remains “Yes. Either by June or October 2011.” However, reality seems to be quite different. DNA has copies of the past three months’ progress reports of the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor that suggest that a huge amount of work still needs to be carried out by the Mumbai Metro One Pvt ltd (MMOPL) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

One of the basic constraints remains the Right Of Way (RoW) where the clear road is to be provided by MMRDA to MMOPL for constructing the metro route. Until October 2010, MMRDA was still to provide 770 m of RoW to the MMOPL for carrying out metro-related work. This physical handover includes area in Old Nagardas road to Teli Gulli, portions of Cardinal Gracious road, Mahakali Caves road, Weight Bridge and Glass Traders area, Asalfa Station (Subhash Nagar) area, area near start of Asalfa station and a Shiv Sena shakha close to it. This RoW was one km in August and September.

Reports of August, September and October submitted by MMOPL (A special project vehicle between Reliance Infrastructure and Veolia Transport-France in which MMRDA has 26% stake) to MMRDA indicate that claims made by the state and Reliance are nothing but an eyewash. The reports, copies of which are with DNA, show that till October 2010, of the total 766 U girders (A U shaped cement construction on top of the pier of the elevated metro) of the 11-km odd route, casting of only 267 has been completed, while only 182 have been erected so far.

Even when the construction is on in full swing, one can only launch 40 to 50 girders per month, clearly showing that the civil work is at a snail’s pace contrary to claims made by MMOPL as well as MMRDA.

When asked about the progress report indicating delays, MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar said that the authority was committed on completing the first metro within the year 2011.

If the slow pace of erecting of the U girders is one concern, the Andheri rail over-bridge is yet another area.

Though officials have been claiming that the Western Railway (WR) has, in principle, cleared the construction of the approximately 180-m bridge, there is no clarity over the period needed in which the WR will give a ‘power block’ for construction.

According to sources in the authority, as many as 70 power blocks are needed for the construction of the bridge. However, with the WR officials not being able to give the clearance in time, the construction is bound to go beyond October 2011, as the construction period for the bridge is at least 10 months.