Mumbai: Residents of south Mumbai affected by the construction of the Metro Line 3 met outside Samrat restaurant in Churchgate on Sunday to discuss how to gain more social media traction, educate citizens and bring in a prominent personality as the face of their campaign.
Tunali Mukherjee, a Churchgate resident, said, “We needed a common platform to discuss these issues. We are a part of a democracy. We deserve to have our concerns taken seriously.”
The residents claimed that the authorities never intended to save the trees. Lawyer Zoru Bhathena said, “Trees from Churchgate were to be transplanted in Wadala. When we went to the site in Wadala, we found it was a salt pan.” Mr. Bhatena said there were logical inconsistencies in the project. “If they can build a station in 60 or 70 feet at Grant road and D.N Nagar, then why stretch the station at Churchgate to 120 feet?” he said.
Nitin Kumar, site engineer, Larsen and Toubro, said the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited has decided the station design. “Reasons for the varying widths could be the population of the area, which may require broad platforms to accommodate people, or even the quality of soil and how well it supports drilling,” he said.
