In a bid to complete the development of a slew of transport infrastructure projects without time and cost overruns, a time-bound manner, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday at the maiden war room meeting asked the concerned departments to work on a war footing and get the necessary permissions urgently. Shinde has directed that land acquisition, compensation and transfer of land in the Rs 1.08 lakh crore Ahmedabad-Mumbai high-speed railway (bullet train) should be completed before September 30. Besides, he also asked the MMRC and concerned departments to complete land acquisition and related issues for various metro corridor projects in Mumbai and MMR.
Shinde, who was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, reviewed the implementation of the 508.17 km bullet train project in the presence of officials from the National High-Speed Rail Corporation. Shinde, who after taking over in June had given necessary clearances for the fast-track development of bullet train project, asked the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to hand over 4.8 hectares of land available for the underground station by September 30. He also directed the Palghar and Thane District Collectors should also complete the matters of land acquisition, compensation, and land transfer by September 30.
Shinde’s directives are important as the possession of nearly 159.07 hectares of land from Palghar district is still pending. A total of 1396 hectares of land from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli was needed for the bullet train project. During the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the land acquisition was stalled due to its tussle with the Centre.
‘’If the project is delayed, its cost increases and the wait gets longer. The state should take advantage of the Centre’s pro-active role in approving various projects by regular follow-ups and timely implementation,’’ said Shinde.
Shinde also reviewed the present status of various other transport infrastructure projects including railway, metro, multimodal corridor and development of Tuljapur and Pandharpur temples.
Shinde also reviewed the Pune-Nashik Semi High-Speed Rail project which was approved by the NITI Aayog in April 2022 and is pending for clearance by the cabinet committee on economic affairs. CM asked the administration to expedite the land acquisition of private land and transfer of government and forest land.
Speed up land acquisition for metro line
Shinde reviewed the implementation status of Mumbai Metro Line-3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 11 as well as Metro Line 2A (Dahisar East to DN Nagar), Metro Line-7 (Andheri East to Dahisar East). He said that the land acquisition and transfer for Wadala to Kasarvadavali Metro Route-4 and Thane to Kalyan via Bhiwandi Metro Route-5 should be completed expeditiously. For Metro lines 4, 4A and 10, nearly 42.25 hectares of land will be needed. The Thane district collector has been asked to acquire land for Metro 5 car depot as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
In the case of Metro 6 (Swami Samarthnagar-Vikhroli), the land acquisition is pending due to a court case while a change of land use proposal for Metro 9 (Dahisar east to Mira Bhayander) is with the urban development department. Further, the MMRDA has submitted a land acquisition proposal to the Thane district collector for Metro 9 (Dahisar east to Mira Bhayander).
As far as Metro 11 (Wadala-CSMT) is concerned, a draft MoU for cost sharing is pending with the Mumbai Port Trust.
