Mass transport for Mumbai's masses, circa 1999

In the concluding piece, the Newsline Team charts out what are hopefully the last steps that the Mumbai Urban Transport Project II took to reach fruition. It is expected that the project, in its present truncated form will begin by mid 1999.

RESTART

Many discussions and developments, not the least of which was the formation of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation, World Bank gauged the alliance government's keenness on the project and sent a mission in September to take stock of progress made. The mission concluded that MUTP in its present form needs further streamlining. Thus, optimisation of harbour lines and construction of road overbridges in `far off' suburbs like Borivli and Dahisar, are now out. The project will now be put up to the WB's board of directors for approval, and work is finally expected to begin by June next year.

MURP

World Bank officials were particularly concerned with the rehabilitation of the project affected people. The Maharashtra government set upanother task force to list the number of those who would have to be shifted because of the road and rail projects.

It was first decided to set up an Urban Rehabilitation Corporation (URCOM) to take up the project of resettlement. This was later changed to the Mumbai Urban Rehabilitation Project (MURP) on tentatively the same lines as the Shiv Shahi Punarvasan Prakalp, where private contractors were to be given incentives for the construction of houses for those dishoused. But the mission has suggested a greater participation from the state government and so it is back to the planning board. The government is reportedly working on a blueprint on the lines of the resettlement scheme undertaken for the Latur earthquake victims. Rs 700 crore is expected to be kept aside for rehabilitation of slumdwellers on rail tracks and for road overbridges.

THE FINAL AVATAAR

While not all projects have been firmed up, a tentative list of MUTP II's components, apart from traffic management schemes, is: RoadOverbridges: WR: Jogeshwari level crossing no 24 and 25

CR: Vikhroli level crossing no 14New Roads: Anik to Panjrapole

Santacruz-Chembur Link Road

Road Improvement Projects: Widening of Jogeshwari-Vikhroli link road to a 4-lane highway

Improvement of Thane-Ghodbunder road

Buses: Purchase of 600 new buses by BEST

Railway Projects: Borivli-Virar quadrupling of tracks

Provision of additional tracks between Andheri-Goregaon

Bandra - Kurla rail link

Provision of part sixth corridor from Ravli junction (Wadala) to Bhandup

Optimisation on western railway to reduce headway from 4 to 3 minutes

Optimisation on CR to reduce headway from 4 minutes to 3 minutes

Rolling stock of about 128 rakes

Fifth line between Santacruz-Borivli

Conversion to DC traction from AC. This will also include remanufacturing of nearly 200 rakes which will run on both DC and AC traction till the conversion is completed.

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