MMRDA seeks state’s help for security of monorail

Mumbai: The security of the monorail, which will be thrown open to the public Sunday, continues to be an issue. The MMRDA has sought help from the state government to deploy state security forces at the monorail facility.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will inaugurate the 19.2km monorail corridor Sunday. There is a high alert in Mumbai in the wake of heightened tension between India and Pakistan and the monorail authorities, too, want to tighten security.

An official from the MMRDA also pointed out that the state security had already been deployed for phase 1, which was already operational.

However, the agency was expecting a manifold increase in commuters once the entire route became operational and the existing arrangements would not be enough.

“We are expecting over one lakh commuters everyday. The present security is not enough and therefore, we have the state government to sanction more security for the second phase,” the official said.

Once commissioned, the monorail will operate daily from 6 am to 10 pm with a 22 minute gap between the two mono trains. It will reduce travel time from 90 to a mere 30 minutes.