MbPT land sought for Metro 4A work

Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has asked the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) to hand over a plot of land under its ownership in order to meet the Port Trust’s demand to make part of the Metro 4A (Wadala to GPO, Fort) underground. MMRDA officials have suggested to give away a plot in South Mumbai owned by the MbPT.

Metro 4 (Wadala to Kasarvadavali) will be extended to the GPO in South Mumbai, and on the Thane side it will be extended up to Gaimukh by adding two more stations.

The executing committee led by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in January, this year, had approved the detailed project report (DPR) of the same.  The chief minister approved the DPR at the 144th meeting of the MMRDA, in the presence of Mumbai mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar,  state housing minister Prakash Mehta and a host of senior officials.

Line 4A is the extension of ongoing Metro 4 wherein around 4 to 6

km fall under the MbPT area. The Asian Age had reported in its November 7, 2018 edition about MbPT being asked to pay up for an underground Metro. However, according to sources, the port trust does not have enough funds to pay the MMRDA.

“If it isn’t able to pay the amount, we have suggested that the MbPT hand over any one of its plots in South Mumbai to us, since they have huge land parcels the-re,” said a senior MMRDA official.

According to the MMRDA, an underground metro will be expensive because it costs around '1,000 crore per km, while an elevated metro will only cost '300 crore.

The authorities have not written to the MbPT demanding the land, but are in discussion regarding the same. MMRDA officials had written to the MbPT to share the expense but it refused to pay up.