Abhijit Mulye By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: After getting consent from 61 villages in Maharashtra for land acquisition for the high-speed train project (Bullet Train) the government has decided to put the project on a fast track mode.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) ground at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) is likely to be handed over to facilitate the beginning of the construction as early as by the end of next month, authorities have said.

Though the project faces a strong criticism and opposition from all the other parties like the Shiv Sena, the MNS, the Congress, the NCP and others, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has given a green signal for the project and work has already begun for shifting of the utility lines in vicinity of the ground at BKC, officials said.

BKC is the starting point of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project. The terminal station for the bullet train would be underground over which the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) would come up.

Since work on IFSC won't start till the detailed plan for the underground station is complete, the state government is learnt to have given go-ahead for the bullet train project.

The MMRDA is scheduled to hand over 0.9 hectares of land at BKC to the national high-speed rail corporation (NHSRC) before March 1, sources have said.

According to NHSRC officials, the joint land measurement exercise has been completed in 61 out of 104 villages of Maharashtra and 176 out of 200 villages of Gujarat, while the agreement for land in BKC was signed in February 2018.

Now, by the end of February 2019, the MMRDA is expected to hand over the BKC land to NHSRC, officials said. The huge ground at BKC is generally used for exhibitions, entertainment shows and even political rallies during election seasons.

However, if the ground is handed over to NHSRC for construction work, the political parties would be left with a limited choice for grounds in Mumbai ahead of Lok Sabha polls.