Months after spending Rs 2 crores on the construction of bus lanes on each side of the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the MMRDA has removed the barricades to make way for the upcoming Metro’s construction.

Back in October 2015, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) had spent Rs 2 crores on the installation of barricades to bifurcate the bus lane. The project, if successful, was supposed to be replicated throughout the city.

The MMRDA, however, removed the barricades in the last week of January on the grounds that it would be difficult to dedicate an entire lane to buses after the metro construction begins.

The construction of the 23 km Metro 2B (DN Nagar-BKC-Mankhurd) corridor will take up an entire lane of the BKC. The work on the near Rs 11,000 crore project is expected to begin in a few months and complete by 2021.

“Removing the bus lane is a practical option considering the civil work for Metro 2B corridor would start in BKC in few months and in this case we cannot afford to have one lane reserved for buses considering the few lanes would have to be shut for the civil work,” said Pravin Darade, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.

Darade further stated that once the metro construction is over, the bus lanes might make a comeback. However, instead of using barricades or any permanent fixtures, it might resort to painting the lanes to differentiate between them.

Although the bus lane was created to allow for smooth flow of traffic, motorists often complained of additional delays due to the restriction.

Incidentally, MMRDA had removed parts of the 13 km cycle track to make way for the bus lanes. The cycle track was installed in 2011 at a cost of Rs 6 crore.

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