MMRDA finds land for Metro II rake depot in Malwani
Yogesh Naik - Posted On Saturday, September 22, 2012 at 04:37:52 AM
The Metro II project connecting Charkop and Mankhurd which was stuck due to environmental restrictions, will soon start moving as the MMRDA has identified a huge tract of land at Malwani near Malad for a rake depot.
The development authority found it extremely difficult to set the project rolling due to the restrictions laid down by the Maharashtra Coastal Management Zone Authority and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The Centre had clearly told MMRDA that mentioned that they cannot wash rakes or carry out repair works in the CRZ area. Senior officials from MMRDA and Mumbai suburban district collector Sanjay Deshmukh jointly inspected the 19 hectare plot at Malwani a fortnight ago. The issue was also discussed in a meeting with the Chief Secretary Jayant Banthia in Mantralaya. When contacted, MMRDA Joint Commissioner SVR Srinivas told Mumbai Mirror that they had moved a proposal for the land to the revenue department. “It is being processed. The Malwani plot does not come under the purview of the CRZ so it will be easier,” he said. MMRDA sources said that the Malwani plot is closer to Atharva College. “The collector has also shown willingness to hand it over,” an MMRDA official said. After finding it very difficult to set up a car depot in Charkop, the MMRDA has now zeroed on a plot in Malwani. The proposed depot was caught in the eye of a storm since the area was in mangroves. Costing around Rs 10,000 crore, the 31.87 km metro line connecting Charkop with Mankhurd via Bandra was initially to be completed in 2014. The contract was awarded to R-Infra and the MMRDA had signed a concession agreement in January 2010. “Both depot lands at Charkop and Mankhurd fall within CRZ, a fact which was not brought out by the MMRDA prior to award of the concession. The state government has not been able to obtain either suitable dispensation from the MoEF, enabling the use of the land or finding alternate land for the car depots,” said a retired IAS officer.  |
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