Commuters will end up paying Rs nine for the minimum fare on the Mumbai Metro's first line instead of the Rs eight announced earlier, as a ten per cent hike is allowed every four years from the time of signing the agreement which was done in 2007.
The hike in price which will be done before the metro is slated to begin operations next year on the first line from Versova Andheri Ghatkopar is in keeping with the agreement signed between the government and the consortium led by Reliance Infra which is building the metro.
Even with this hike the fares on the metro will be the lowest in the world with the Beijing Metro having a minimum fare of RMB 2(Rs 14) and the London Metro 1.80 pounds(Rs 130) said officials connected with the metro.
Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority(MMRDA) commissioner, Ratnakar Gaikwad said that the hike will be ten per cent over the stated fare.Even the BEST will have to hike it fares by then, he said.
Gaikwad and the joint commissioner, Ashwini Bhide said that metro line will not be delayed and would instead be ahead of schedule as 68 per cent of the work was already done and all stations and the civil work would be ready by June next year .
Citizens groups who have opposed the metro have however countered the argument and have pointed out that all the stations on the route were still incomplete and a lot needed to be done on the ground before serious trials can be conducted.
The virtual classroom experiment to teach rural areas in Thane district announced earlier will be started in Nilji which falls on the Vasai Diva Panvel railway line. Gaikwad said that Community Facilitation Centres will be started in ten villages and will function as a school, health centre, farmers teaching centre and also screen movies for entgertainment.
This classroom experiment is being done with the help of facilities made availabe by the Valuable Group and Lodha builders who have projects nearby."The Valuable Group has the technical ability to beam kprogrammes and movies directly by satellite to the classrooms,'' said Gaikwad.
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