Thaindian News

Mumbai, Sep 5 (IANS) More than 80 percent of civil work on Mumbai’s Rs.2,356 crore Metro Rail-I project, expected to be operational sometime in 2012, is complete, an official said here Monday.

The mega-project — first in the series planned over the next few years — shall connect Versova in Andheri west with Ghatkopar in the eastern suburbs, a distance of 11.07 km.

?Overall, more than 80 percent of the corridor has been completed and we expect the Metro Rail-I to be fully functional by 2012,? said Rahul Asthana, Metropolitan Commissioner, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

The project is being executed by a consortium led by Reliance Infrastructure, in partnership with MMRDA and Veolia Transport.

Covering the vast and densely populated stretch between Versova and Ghatkopar, the Metro Rail will help reduce travel time in the section from 71 minutes to a mere 21.

Various components of the project are in progress simultaneously - including construction of stations, depots, trackwork, overhead electrification and signalling.

While some stations like Jagruti Nagar and Airport Road are almost 95 percent complete, others are 70-75 percent complete.

An official said that work on the most critical Metro Bridge over the Western Railway tracks at Andheri is in full swing under supervision of the railways.

The work on a cable-stayed bridge on the route is also progressing speedily.

?We have ensured that work is carried out smoothly, despite the heavy monsoons. Also, most sections are being completed at a steady and rapid rate,? the official said.

While the coaches for the Metro Rail arrived earlier this year, the Factory Acceptance Tests of various other rail systems equipment have been largely completed and their delivery to sites is in progress.

According to the Mumbai Metro Master Plan - to be implemented in three phases and involving nine lines over 146.5 km, including 32.50 km underground - is estimated to cost nearly Rs.20,000 crore.

Besides the Versova-Ghatkopar section, Phase-I includes the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd (31.80 km) and Colaba-Bandra (20 km) sections.

Phase-II includes the following sections: Charkop-Dahisar (7.50 km), Ghatkopar-Mulund (12.50 km) and BKC-Kanjurmarg via Mumbai Airport (19.50 km).

Phase-III will connect Andheri east with Dahisar east (18 km), Ghatkopar with Flora Fountain (21.80 km) and Sewri with Prabhadevi — an underground stretch the details of which are being finalised.

The Metro Rail will also provide relief to daily commuters from the Thane and Raigad districts.

A monorail project will augment the Metro Rail.