Metro

The Mumbai metro is rapid

transit system. If it is successful
it will become the planets most
crowded metropolis to build
one.
The system is designed to
reduce traffic congestion in the
city.
More than 8,000 workers are
working 24 hours a day to finish
these 27 stations, 21-mile subway. However, to build this, the workers are having to build
through some of Mumbai’s most densely populated areas and around the edge of one of
Asia’s biggest slums and even under temples and colonial buildings. There is joint
ownership, the owners are MMRDA to all lines except 1 and 3 and The Mumbai Metro Rail
Corporation who own lines 1 and 3. The MMRC has had to negotiate with thousands of
families and business to get them to move and has fought residents in courts over noise,
land rights and if the subway will sully sacred ground. Despite this, the subway which
started in 2016 is now getting built at an average of one mile a month. So far, 9 miles are
complete.
The current Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a speech that by 2024 the city would have
170 miles of metro line under and above ground. The government is ‘making your lives
better and easier’ with its metro plans.
More than 7 million commuters a day cram into the city’s suburban railway network. It I so
extreme that the Indian authorities describe it as a ‘super dense crush load’. The rail
network often carries three times their capacity, and close to 8 people die on the network
daily. Rail officials said in 2018, 650 passengers died from falling off the train, but even more
where killed crossing tacks.
Lines of the Metro –
Operational -
Line-1: Versova – Andheri – Ghatkopar – 11.4km.
Under Construction -
Line-2A: Dahisar (E) – D.N. Nagar – 18.6km.
Line 3: Colaba – BKC – SEEPZ – 33.5km.
Line 7: Dahisar (E)- Andheri (E) -16.5km.
Approved lines -
Line-2B: D.N. Nagar – Mankhurd 23.5km.
Line-4: Bhakti Park (Wadala) – Ghatopar – Thane – Kasarvadavali – 32.32km.
Line-5: Thane – Bhiwandi – Kalyan – 23.50km.
Line- 6: Lokhandwala – Jogeshwari – Kanjurmarg – 14.47km.
Proposed lines -
Line -11: Kalyan – Dombivli – Taloja
Line – XX: Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) – Navi Mumbai international Airport
(NMIA).
Monorail
Mumbai Monorail is the first
monorail project of India. It is the
world’s second longest monorail
after Osaka Monorail Main line,
Japan.
Each train features 16 automatic
gates and four to six cars with a
capacity to accommodate 568 (80
sitting and 488 standing)
passengers at a time.
The train cars are painted green, pink or sky blue. Each train has three stabling and guiding
horizontal wheels on both sides. The braking system includes electro-dynamic regenerative
pneumatic and spring-engages disc brakes.
A 108m test run of conducted successfully in January 2010. The technical testing over a
length of 2.2km was successfully completed in February in 2012. The first phase of the line 1
was opened to public in February 2014. Operations on the line were terminated after a
coach caught fire in November 2017.
The MMRDA is the owner, just like the Mumbai metro. In November 2008, a consortium of
LTSE, Larsen & Toubro and Scomi Engineering was selected to implement the project.
However, the MMRDA as now terminated the contract as they feel ‘they failed to perform
and fulfil contractual obligations’.
After years of delays Phase 2 was introduced by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra
Fadnavis on 3rd of March 2019.
The monorail project was suggested as a better solution in areas where roads are unable to
be widened due to structures on the sides. Another pro for it was it reduced property loss
for people living in areas where it was built, and it also lowered land acquisition costs for the
government. More benefits of the monorail services are that its eco-friendly, easily
accessible, causes less noises pollution compared to other metro rail systems and reduces
traffic congestion.
Nevertheless since the monorail became operational it has experienced frequent
breakdowns, delays, signal failure and jamming doors. And as managed above two carriages
in November 2017 caught on fire.
Residents living around the monorail have claimed that the route is a flop idea since there
are hardly any commercial and residential building along the route.
Coastal Road
Project
The Coastal Road is under
construction. A proposed 29-
kilometre freeway running along
the western coastline. The
ambitious project had already
received an in-principle approval
from the Bombay High Court in
2017 and recently got clearances
from various government departments. It took almost three years before construction could
start. The first phase is likely to be ready by 2023. The freeway will span a total length of 29
kilometres with the first phase covering 9.38 kilometres.
Phase 1 will run from Princess Street Flyover near Marine Lines to the south-end of the
Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) while phase 2 will end at Kandivali in northwest Mumbai.
There are plans to extend the road till Marve and Ghodbunder Road.
The Government is optimistic that the proposed infrastructure will open venues for the
investments and create housing opportunities as more land parcels will be unlocked for
real-estate developments. The aim at the western express highway, the coastal road will
also link the Ahmedabad Highway via Mira Bhayender Road. The micro-markets which are
most likely to see good results include Mira Road, Bhayandar, Bandra, Versova.
The project faced backlash almost straight away after it was proposed in 2011,
environmentalists were against the project and worried about the removal of several
mangrove patches and forest land in the process. Some experts have also said that such
roads might impact tidal circulation. These concerns are also echoed by the collective voices
of activists, transport experts and urban planners who feel such a project is an expensive
proposition.
On March 10 2019, the citizens of Mumbai protested against the coastal road project. They
held the construction of the Coastal Road project. The police intervened though and
threatened to impost section 144 (unlawful gathering) against the group protesting. The
spectators that had gathered where also dispersed and weren’t allowed to stand across the
street. And this protest could not continue as the police denied permission.
Conclusion