With just 16 months left to meet the deadline, the delay in obtaining Right of Way (ROW) is likely to put the Mumbai Monorail project off the track The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) undertaking the project has to obtain the ROW at Bhoiwada (Parel), Antop Hill, Ambedkar Nagar and Mint Colony areas.

Senior MMRDA officials said the agency has to undertake land acquisition in these areas. In the Bhoiwada area, it might acquire a building to give way to the Monorail, while in other areas it has to acquire small structures. The agency not only has to acquire the land, but also rehabilitate the Project Affected People (PAP)

MMRDA officials taking care of Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) issues said the primary survey work of the land to be acquired has already begun. This should approximately take two months. But the process of convincing the people affected by the project to shift and the impending legal procedures (if anyone goes to court) consumes a lot of time. And if the issues are sorted out, then the MMRDA can go ahead with the land acquisition process.

The bhoomipoojan for the Monorail project (from Jacob Circle to Chembur via Wadala) was held with much fanfare in February this year. The first link on the 20-km Monorail from Chembur to Wadala is expected to complete in November 2010 and the second link (Wadala to Jacob Circle ) in April 2011. While awarding the contract to Larsen and Toubro-Scomi, the MMRDA had also added a clause of penalising the company if it doesn’t abide by the deadline.

... contd.