The Shiv Sena Member of Parliament (MP), Arvind Sawant on Wednesday demanded that a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji be installed in the quadrangle outside the Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).
The Mumbai (South) MP made this demand at the e-inauguration of 14 passenger amenities on Central and 11 on Western Railway. The Railways is planning to build a Shivaji statue at the station’s east side entrance on P D’Mello Road. “The statue should be in front of the building where it will be visible to everyone,” Mr. Sawant said. The MP also pressed for the renaming of Mumbai Central Station after Nana Sunkersett.
The inauguration through a video link was done by Union Minister of State (MoS) Railways, Rajen Gohain along with Mr. Sawant and Kalyan MP Dr. Srikant Shinde. A host of passenger amenities were thrown open to the public which included Foot Over Bridges (FOB) at Currey Road, Nahur and Virar, an escalator at Titwala, elevators at Reay Road, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Chembur, Virar and Vasai Road, wi-fi facilities at Chembur, Dombivili, Ghatkopar and Mulund stations, solar power plants at various railway stations and buildings in the city, booking offices at Currey Road, Bhandup and Nahur, and toilets at Kalyan, Vasai Road and Virar.
Two Emergency Medical Rooms (EMR) at Byculla and Mumbra were commissioned on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. These will add to the existing EMRs at Dadar, Kurla, Wadala, Mulund and Ghatkopar.
Mr. Sawant asked Railways not to keep a common inauguration for all projects. “Go to each station and inaugurate the FOB, toilets, lifts, etc, individually. You could call the local corporators and MLAs as they too have a role in the execution of the projects. Locals too can participate as they are the beneficiariests,” he said.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Gohain said the government understands the significance of railways in the daily lives of Mumbaikars and highlighted some of the big ticket projects it intends to execute in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). These include elevated corridors on Western and Harbour lines, and doubling and tripling of lines in certain sections.
“The Centre has approved projects worth ₹10,947 crore,” he said referring to Phase 3 of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project. In December 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for Phase 3 of the project at Bandra Kurla Complex.
