The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority has proposed a change in Line 2 of phase-I of the Mumbai Metro project. Speaking to ProjectsToday, a highly-placed MMRDA official disclosed that the underground section of Line 2 was proposed to be extended up to Mahim or Bandra, from the earlier envisaged Mahalakshmi. This would mean that Line 2 would have an additional 8 km of underground section, thereby reducing the length of the elevated section.
The feasibility study for this proposed change is currently under way and would be completed over the next two-three months, the official added.
The total length of Line 2 (Colaba-Charkop) is 38 km out of which 10.8 km (Colaba to Mahalaxmi) was to be underground and the remaining 27.2 km elevated. With the revised design, the underground section would increase by around 8 km, taking it to 18.8 km with the remaining 19.2 km being elevated. The MMRDA official explained that the overall project design would not be affected drastically with this proposed change, but the cost of the project could increase by around Rs 2,000 crore due to higher tunneling work. The extended section would also have to accommodate seven-eight underground stations. Explaining the rationale behind the proposed change, the official said that for the Mumbai metro rail project, MMRDA would pursue underground sections for the main (island) city while suburbs would get elevated sections.
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone for the Mumbai metro project on 21 June 2006. A consortium led by Reliance Energy (an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprise) has won the mandate to develop Line 1 (Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar section) and construction work is likely to begin by October 2006.