Mumbai: As Mumbai expands its metro rail system, the names of stations on the different lines have become contentious, with authorities accused of naming the stations without consulting citizens. In the latest dispute, residents of Pestom Sagar, Chembur, have asked the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to rename Garodia Nagar station on Metro 4, also known as the Green Line, as Pestom Sagar as it is closer to their locality.
Metro 4 is a 32.32-kilometer elevated corridor connecting Wadala to Kasarvadavali, Thane, passing through Chembur, Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Mulund, and Teen Hath Naka in Thane. The line will have 30 stations, providing interconnectivity among Eastern Express Highway, Central Railway, and other metro lines, such as Line 2 (Dahisar-Mankhurd), Line 5 (Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan), and Line 6 (Lokhandwala-Jogeshwari-Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg)
The proposed Garodia Nagar station is located on Ghatkopar-Mahul Road near Pestom Sagar, a residential locality of over 120 buildings in Chembur. Garodia Nagar, a residential colony in Ghatkopar (East) is located away from the Ghatkopar-Mahul Road. The railway station near Garodia Nagar has been tentatively named Pant Nagar.
"The Garodia Nagar station is near Road Number 4 of Pestom Sagar. We do see why it should not be named after our locality. We have written a letter to MMRDA suggesting a change in the name," said Mohini Thakare, chairperson of Pestom Sagar Citizens' Forum, a group representing 110 buildings.
Strangely, residents of Garodia Nagar are not opposing the demand to rename the station. Rajesh Ajmera, vice-president of Garodia Nagar Residents Association which represents 148 of the nearly 200 buildings in the locality, said, "I have heard about this demand. We have no objection to the change in name because it is the builder's name. He has not done anything for Garodia Nagar."
Construction work on the line began in October 2018 and is scheduled to be completed by 2025. The line is expected to carry 1.2 million passengers by 2031. There have been a lot of changes in the plans for the stations along the route. Plans for a station at Amar Mahal, the junction of Eastern Express Highway and Ghatkopar-Mahul Road, were dropped because the location is congested and close to high-tension electricity lines.
Internationally, stations on Mass Rail Transit (MRT) systems like the Mumbai Metro are placed at a distance of 500 metres to one kilometre. This ensures that stations are between 500 metres and 1 kilometres in the catchment areas. In Tokyo, which has one of the largest MRT networks in the world, stations are at a distance of 700 metres to 2.5 kilometres from each other. With the removal of Amar Mahal station from Metro 4, the distance between Garodia Nagar and Siddharth Colony, Chembur, will be more than 2.7 kilometres.
MMRDA asked for time to reply to our questions on the demands made by the residents but did not send a response.
Residents have contested the names proposed for stations on the new metro lines. There are demands for a change in some of the station names on the 12.4km Aarey to BKC stretch of the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro 3 route which started operations on Monday.
The Mumbai Bhumiputra East Indian Samaj and Mobai Gaothan Panchayat, groups representing the original inhabitants of Mumbai's villages, said the names should reflect local history. After sections of Lines 2A and 7 were commissioned between April 2022 and January 2023, there were complaints that stations were given names of localities that never existed; for example, Lower Oshiwara and Lower Malad. Another station, Valnai, was renamed Valnai-Mith Chowky to reflect the commonly used name for the locality.
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