Metro, Monorail projects could miss deadline: Estimates panel

The estimates committee of the state legislature has criticised the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for the delays in the execution of the Metro and Mono railway projects and has expressed doubts over the projects meeting the 2012 deadline.

The committee, headed by the NCP's Dilip Mohite, in its 10th report submitted to the state legislature during its monsoon session, has pointed out that the panel had been told that the Rs 2,356-crore Versova-Andheri -Ghatkopar arm of the Metro railway project would be completed by July 2011 instead of the original deadline of 2012.

"Considering the present status of the work on the project, there are still doubts on whether the work will be completed by 2012," said the report.

The committee added that it had no option but to say that the authority 'had created a facade' that it would complete the work a year earlier instead of the original deadline of 2012.

The committee said that it had also been told that the work on the Rs 2,460-crore Mono Railway project on the Sant Gadge Maharaj chowk - Wadala-Chembur route, which was to be completed by December 2011, will be completed by December 2012.

The committee has recommended that a review of these two projects be taken and it be appraised about the present status, expenditure so far and the planning for the remaining work.

While Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd— a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed by Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, Veolia Transport and MMRDA — is executing work on the Metro Railway project, the Monorail is a cash contract that consists of civil construction by Larsen & Toubro and operations by Scomi, Malaysia.

The report said that the MMRDA had started work on 58 skywalks in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and the work on 22 skywalks had been cancelled due to the hurdles posed by underground service lines.

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