Metro 2B gets Railways' nod for land near Kurla

Mumbai: The Railways’ nod has resolved Metro 2B (D.N. Nagar to Mandale) issues with land near the Kurla crossing now having been handed over to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The problem was sorted out after a meeting between MMRDA authorities and railway minister Piyush Goyal. With the new alignment, the route will pass through the Kurla crossing towards Mandale depot which is the last stop. Meanwhile, Simplex Infrastructure, the contractor responsible for executing phase 1 (D.N. Nagar to BKC), has started the geotechnical survey for Metro 2B at D.N. Nagar.

An MMRDA source said, “There was trouble in acquiring the land, but we had a meeting with Mr Goyal, post which, the issue was resolved and now we can take the corridor through the rail crossing near Kurla. The rail crossing is a defunct one and hardly in use, so there are no issues in erecting Metro pillars for the elevated line.”

As per the old alignment for phase 2 (BKC to Mandale), the corridor had to cross Mankhurd twice due to non-availability of railway land. However, with the new alignment, the corridor, after passing the Sion-Panvel Expressway, will directly connect the railway land and reach Mandale.

UPS Madan, metropolitan commissioner told The Asian Age, “We have received the in-principle nod from the railway to construct on railway land.”

The authority is yet to award the contract for phase 2 and has begun work on phase 1. “The contractor has started the geo-technical work and the barricading has started for the same. In the next one-and-a-half month, we will complete barricading for the Metro works of line 2B,” the source added.