The Congress on Monday alleged that work on the elevated Metro corridors is stalled due to land acquisition issues, and will not be completed before 2030.
Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam said the Metro corridors are very poorly planned. “Looking at the pace of work, there won’t be an elevated Metro in Mumbai till 2030. It seems these lines are badly planned if one takes into account various factors such as land acquisition and obstacles such as railway tracks, high-tension wires and flyovers.”
Mr. Nirupam said land for none of the stations on Metro 2A has been acquired, which is spread across approximately one lakh square feet built-up area. He also said all Metro corridors that are under various stages of development have several issues and will increase traffic congestion on arterial roads such as the Western Express Highway, Eastern Express Highway, S.V Road, LBS Marg, and Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road.
“Metros are not being constructed, there is just a display of work being under way,” he said. The Congress leader also claimed that there seems to be a conspiracy to destroy Powai lake with Metro 6, which he said is a futile route and a waste of ₹6,000 crore.
Mr. Nirupam admitted that it was a mistake to make Metro 1 (Versova to Ghatkopar) an elevated corridor, which was built under the Congress government, but said the current government has not learned from past mistakes.
“Future lines should not be elevated, and the lines where work has not progressed much and can be scrapped must be done so immediately, and an underground option should be explored,” he said.
At present, construction of Metro 2A (Dahisar to DN Nagar) and 7 (Dahisar East to Andheri East) is on along with preliminary work on Metro 2B (DN Nagar to Mankhurd), 4 (Wadala to Kasarvadavali), and 6 (Swami Samarth Nagar to Vikhroli).
