He was commenting on the concern expressed over the state government's 50-flyover scheme by World Bank officials, who were in the city for a fortnight. They were on a visit to assess the progress made by the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-II). Transport planners fear the bank might even reconsider its proposal to finance part of the Rs 6,000-crore MUTP-II project.

The WB-sponsored project with its emphasis on improvement of public transport like railways and buses, is at odds with the state government's much vaunted flyover scheme which unabashedly encourages private transport.

But Sinha disagrees. ``Their (the WB team's) biggest frustration appears to be that how Mumbai could do a project of this scale without their approval,'' Sinha toldExpress Newsline

. ``And MUTP-II has been in the pipeline for nearly a decade, there's no guarantee of its sanction.''

Meanwhile, the flyover project is racing towards completion. All of the 50 projects are on schedule and six of them are ahead of schedule, and four have been completed, Sinha said. The flyovers would not only reduce travelling time in the city but also save on fuel consumption.

The MSRDC was not concerned about the World Bank statements since some of the flyovers to ease city traffic had been recommended by studies prepared way back in 1962.

MSRDC has already raised the Rs 1200 crore from banks and financial institutions. This would have to be repayed in five and seven year terms at 13.5 per cent interest rates.

Sinha admitted that the steep fall in real estate had adversely affected plans for commercial exploitation of space beneath the flyovers. This would now garner only Rs 100. A major portion of the loan will have to be repayed by collecting toll on entry into the city, hesaid. The state government had worked out a number of alternatives to recover the money, however, collecting toll appeared to be the simplest, he said.

The state would soon set up toll stations at Dahisar, Borivli and Airoli to supplement the toll station on the Thane creek. This will collect a toll amount of Rs 20 per car and Rs 50 per commercial vehicle, for a 30-year period, Sinha said.

Sinha said that the argument to discourage the use of private motor vehicles did not make sense. ``How far are you going to extend this argument? Are we to stop making roads because they encourage motor vehicles?''