The Improvements Committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Wednesday approved the transfer of 17 land parcels to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) for construction of the 32-km Mumbai Metro III, completing a complex land acquisition process for the project.
The MMRC is the nodal body for the city’s first fully underground metro on Colaba-Bandra-Seepz route with 27 stations. Over 80 per cent of land required for project is already in possession of MMRC. It required some land parcels from the BMC for making entry and exit shafts and fire exits for the project and had initiated the paperwork a few months ago.
On Wednesday, the proposal for transfer of BMC land came for approval before the Improvements Committee. MMRC officials made a presentation before the members, requesting its approval for 7,796 square metres (0.78 hectares) of permanent BMC land. These 17 land parcel include spots like the DN Road in Fort, Jamshedji Tata Road at Churchgate, land near Hutatma Chowk and opposite Siddhivinayak Temple in Dadar.
Prakash Gangadhare, chairman of the committee, said, “This metro project is going to play a very important role in city’s public transport service. MMRC needs some land on permanent basis and some for temporary work. MMRC has assured that it is going to take care of the rehabilitation process. So in the interest of city’s infrastructure, the committee approved the transfer land to MMRC.”
MMRC also needs 5.39 hectares of land on temporary basis during the construction. The approvals for these land parcels from civic body are still awaited.
Speaking to The Hindu , Ashwini Bhide, MD, MMRC, said, “We are thankful to the Improvements Committee for approving the BMC land transfer. I explained to them that all concerned government departments and others like Airport Authority of India, Railways have already given their consent to land transfer required for project. Now we hope the BMC general body would also soon approve the land needed for temporary purposes like casting yard, construction yard and tunnel shaft.”
The writer is a freelance journalist
These include DN Road, J Tata Road, Hutatma Chowk and Siddhivinayak Temple near Dadar
