Mumbai Metro: Out of the tunnel?

It took six years to make Mumbai’s first elevated Metro line which runs 11.4 km from Ghatkopar to Versova; construction work began in February 2008 and the first train rolled out on 8 June 2014, three years behind schedule. Eight years later, the next two lines --Metro 7 and Metro 2A totaling 35 km -- are only partially ready, having missed the deadline by two years. Nonetheless, the completed stretches, measuring 20 km, will be inaugurated in a week or so. In effect, Mumbai, a city otherwise known for its efficiency, has laid just 46 km of operational Metro Rail lines in 14 years, just over three km per year. By contrast, the 82-km long Panama Canal, the greatest engineering feat in the world, was built in 10 years. The Konkan Railway, the greatest engineering feat in India, with 2,000 bridges and 91 tunnels was accomplished in eight years.

Going by the plan, all the five metro lines in Mumbai should have been ready in 15 years. One can safely assume that it will take another five to seven years for all the lines to be ready. That’s 22 years, a full generation will have grown up with barricaded and dug-up roads. Surely, this is no way to do things. And all the blame cannot be laid on the pandemic. Where’s the planning? Why was the government in such a rush to take up five lines at once? Did Devendra Fadnavis want to prove a point to his rival Nitin Gadkari? Do big infrastructure projects mean big bucks and votes for political parties? Is a metro line a good way of milking the Centre? These are questions that are not even asked, let alone answered.

The government was in such a hurry that it did not even think of securing land for the car sheds. The Fadnavis government went to the extent of cutting 2,000 century-old trees overnight at Aarey for a metro depot. When the MVA government scrapped the metro depot at Aarey, the Centre, out of spite, denied them a plot at Kanjurmarg. So much for cooperative federalism.

Even otherwise, the MMRDA has tried to railroad its way at Bhayandar and Kasarvadavli for metro car sheds. This is what happens when your premier planning body has no town planners, when your premier urban development bodies are converted into contractors for the government of the day, and when you run your urbanisation policy by tinkering with FSI.

Why does one not hear about the comprehensive mobility plan and the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority that were recommended for all million-plus cities by The National Urban Transport Policy? The lack of such basic planning has meant that Metro lines have been made haphazardly without most cities even evaluating their need. Without comprehensive planning, Metro cannot be the panacea for urban India’s mobility woes.

It is not as if the dangers were not known. The misadventure of the monorail was there for all to see. The Navi Mumbai Metro line goes from nowhere to nowhere and is incomplete even after ten years. In fact, it is in danger of being listed as a heritage structure. Instead of connecting Navi Mumbai with Mumbai, it links Belapur with Taloja when wide roads link the two nodes. Anyway, in Navi Mumbai, even the railway stations locations have been decided by satraps. Had heads rolled for the monorail and the Navi Mumbai Metro, our `netas’ and `babus’ would be more careful about blowing up public money.

It is only after MMRDA got a slap in the face from Alstom that it woke up. The French engineering multinational, which has acquired Bombardier Transportation, cancelled the order to supply coaches for the Mumbai Metro project’s fourth line and its extension (Mumbai Metro-4 and 4A) due to delays in the project. Alstom said it had engaged with relevant stakeholders to find a possible resolution and its decision to scrap the deal was taken after exhausting all avenues. By MMRDA’s own confession, only five to ten per cent of the work on the Metro 4 line from Wadala to Kasarvadavli is ready.

Now, MMRDA has warned the Metro 4 contractor, Reliance, to keep to the deadlines or forfeit the contract. It took MMRDA two years to realise that the contractor for the BKC to Chembur segment of the Metro 2B was not up to the mark despite him not completing even 10 per cent of the work in two years. Anyone can guess why these contractors are handled with kid gloves. 2B or not 2B (harsh) is the MMRDA’s dilemma.

The other corridors that MMRDA is constructing are - Metro Line 3 (Colaba to Seepz), Metro Line 2B (D N Nagar to Mandale), Metro Line 5 (Thane to Kalyan), Metro Line 6 (Swami Samarth Nagar to Vikhroli), and Metro Line 9 (Andheri to CSIA and Dahisar to Mira Bhayander).

The latest Metro deadline is October 2026. When completed, it will comprise 14 lines spanning a total of 357 km serviced by 286 stations. One can only hope our Metro rail isn't lost in transit.

Published on: Monday, March 28, 2022, 08:10 AM IST