Monorail staircase poses risk'

Mumbai: The monorail project is once again in the eye of controversy. A housing society in Wadala, Bhavya Heights Society, has complained that the entry-exit staircase at the Wadala monorail station is hampering fire brigade access to the society.

The society has moved the Bombay high court, which has berated the Brihanmumbai Muni-cipal Corporation (BMC) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for not working in tandem so as to have resulted in such a situation.

The court has further directed the authorities to ensure that the monorail project from Jacob Circle to Chembur has no such problems.

A division bench of Justices Naresh Patil and Girish Kulkarni was hearing the writ petition filed by members of Bhavya Heights Society, Wadala depot, seeking directions to the MMRDA to move the existing staircase to the south side of the station as it was obstructing the entry of fire tenders.

The society filed the petition following a letter from the Mumbai fire brigade, informing about the latter’s inability to douse any fires in the society premises as the staircase was proving an obstruction.

When the matter came up for hearing, the BMC and MMRDA pointed fingers in each other’s direction but the court chided the civic body for not taking cognisance of the situation when the staircase was being constructed and waking up only after its completion. The bench also berated the MMRDA for not keeping the civic corporation in the loop when the staircase was being constructed.

After the dressing down, MMRDA told the court that it was keen to resolve the issue and find an alternative to the existing staircase and ensure that access to the society was not blocked.

While the petitioner suggested shifting of the staircase to the south end of the station, the bench suggested a skywalk, to which the MMRDA said it would take a decision on the same after consulting its officials.

The court accepted the submissions and placed the matter for hearing after four weeks.

Problems faced by Monorail

Permissions
Since its inception in 2005, the project faced several problems like getting permissions from various agencies and authorities and also land acquisition issues. Phase 1 was finally completed in 2014 and services started between Chembur and Wadala.

Scomi claims compensation over cost escalation
Scomi that was contracted by MMRDA to provide rakes and run the services have demanded compensation of nearly Rs 1200 cr that they invested over and above the contracted amount.

Fire safety issues
Dadar station of monorail is yet to get the NOC from the fire department. Apart from that accessibility for fire tenders along the narrow lanes through which the monorail passes is an issue which is yet to be resolved.

Shortage of rakes
The monorail has 10 rakes that were utilised between Chembur and Wadala as well as for trial runs between Wadala and Jacob Circle. Scomi said that they have four more rakes that need to be retrofitted to be pressed into service.