CRS gives conditional nod for 2nd phase of monorail

Mumbai: After a wait of fours years, the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) has finally given clearance for the monorail phase 2 corridor (Wadala to Jacob Circle), giving the Mumbai Metropolitan Region development Authority (MMRDA) the nod to start the entire corridor, Phase-1 (Chembur-Wadala) and Phase - 2 together. The MMRDA now needs to get the state government’s nod for commencing work on the entire corridor.

MMRDA authorities revealed that the CRS had submitted the final report on Tuesday, and has given a conditional clearance. The sanction entails 10-15 conditions that the MMRDA has to abide by before starting the corridor. The approval has been pending since 2014.

Confirming the development, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner Sanjay Khandare said, “Yes, we have received clearance from CRS on Tuesday. Some conditions have been put forward in the report before starting the corridor.” He added, “Now we will approach the state government in three-four days for their sanction. Once the state nods, we can start the service immediately.”

According to the MMRDA, the report mentions several conditions focussing on the maintenance and safety aspect of the service, so that commuters are safe in case of any untoward incident in future.

It talks of specific conditions like, provision for spare rakes in case of an emergency, technical helpline in the service etc.