Mumbai

Mumbai Urban Transport Project

Borivali

A delay in the construction of the fifth and sixth rail lines between Thane and Diva has increased the estimated cost on the project by 100%, according to an RTI reply from theRail Vikas Corporation (MRVC). Right to Information activist Ajay Bose had sought information about the project's cost escalation and the reason behind delay.In its reply, the MRVC said the new deadline for the project has been set for 2020-2021 with a revised estimated cost of Rs 502.36 crore. The corporation has spent Rs 464.73 crore till date, the authority said while adding that the initial cost was estimated at Rs 135 crore.An official told Mirror that encroachments along the project's area have delayed the project. "We have spent a lot of time in dealing with encroachments," an official said. "Some portion of the project comes under forest and mangroves area, which needs special permission from the authorities concerned."An official, who is monitoring the project, said that permission to construct the line in the mangrove area was granted in February 2019. "500 sq m of the land was finally released by the authority concerned in March 2019," the official said.The state sanctioned the project for laying the fifth and sixth rail lines between Thane and Diva in 2008, as part of the(MUTP 2B). The project aims to help the railways segregate outstation and suburban train operations between Kurla and Kalyan stations by removing the bottleneck. Six lines already exist between Kurla-Thane and Diva-Kalyan. "This is one of the busiest sections of the Central Railway suburban area," a Government Railway Police official said. "Over 1,000 passengers have fallen from crowded trains between Thane and Diva over the last four years. "Officials said the only way to prevent casualties is to add more trains on the route."This is possible only after the new Diva-Thane and Kurla-CSMT lines become operational," the official said.While the Thane - Diva line project deadline has been postponed, work on the Kurla-CSMT line has not even begun, an Indian Railway official said. The Kurla CSMT fifth line and the Mumbai Central-Borivali sixth line area also part of MUTP 2 project which was sanctioned in 2008.The initial estimated cost for the Mumbai Central -sixth line was pegged at Rs 522 crore. This has increased to Rs 918 crore. The cost of Kurla-CSMT fifth and sixth line has risen from Rs 659 crore to 1,367 crore. mmB