MMRDA cracks the whip on Metro; seeks update - MID DAY - 3rd Nov 2010

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/nov/031110-Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar-Metro-route-mumbai-MMOPL.htm

By: Ranjeet Jadhav   Date:  2010-11-03   Place: Mumbai

A report in MiD DAY has nudged the Metro rail authorities into expediting work on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro route. A couple of days after MiD DAY carried a story on how work on the Metro rail has been dragging on ('Metro work slower than a snail', October 29), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has taken serious note of the report. Work in progress at the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro site. (Below) The MiD DAY report on October 29 "Officials from the Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), which is carrying out the work, was asked to give a presentation on Monday on the current status of work. This was after the article appeared in your paper," sources told MiD DAY. "MMOPL Director KP Maheshwari gave a detailed presentation about the present status of work to MMRDA Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad." Another MMRDA official said Gaikwad had directed MMOPL to speed up work and complete it before the June 2011 deadline that MMRDA has set for completion of civil work. Long way to go The MiD DAY story mentioned how barely 3 km of the 11-km stretch of the route had been completed. It also highlighted that MMRDA was still to erect over 100 pillars and has to construct bridges by June 2011. In the last 32 months (since February 2008), 68 per cent of the work on the first corridor of the Metro rail has been completed. So, will the remaining 32 per cent be done in eight months? "Yes, we will complete work by June 2011," Gaikwad said yesterday. "Construction activity on the first Metro rail corridor is in full swing. Around 68 per cent work has already been completed." Gaikwad, however, did not speak about the total number of pillars that have been completed on the stretch. Of 424 pillars that fall along the route, 104 are still to be erected. Of the 320 pillars which have already been set up, the tubular viaduct through which Metro trains will pass, has been placed on 130 pillars. Gaikwad claimed that the work is a year ahead of time, and trains will be operational by August 2011. "All Metro stations will be completed by April 2011 and the iron bridge that will be placed over the Western Express highway is ready at the Kolkata workshop," he said. "It will soon be transported to Mumbai." Baseless comments? E Sreedharan, who has headed the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for over a decade, had during his recent visit to Mumbai said that the Mumbai Metro is very much behind schedule. Without taking names, Gaikwad said that people who are not aware of the ground reality of the Metro rail construction "should not make baseless comments that the Mumbai Metro Rail work is running behind schedule". The other view "I think the claims made by MMRDA that 68 per cent work is complete and the remaining would be completed by June 2011 is a statement to mislead the common man," said architect Nitin Killawala, who has filed a PIL against MMRDA over the slow pace of work. "Even if MMRDA works round the clock, it will not be able to complete the civil work before deadline."