Harried commuters look forward to Lalu’s budget

The MUTP II aims at improving travelling condition of over six million suburban train commuters, where 16 people jostle for a toe-hold on a square metre of space during peak hours. However, the Rs 4,500 crore project, in which the state Government will share a part of the cost, is awaiting the approval of the Railway Ministry.

With passengers getting restive, and commuters, in areas like Virar, enforcing a one-day blockade of services to press for better services and increased frequencies, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in the recent National Development Council (NDC) meeting in New Delhi, had stressed for the Ministry’s approval for the MUTP II.

He had also noted the unrest among commuters demanding better travelling conditions and improved services, and how passengers lost their lives after falling off the trains.

Despite the state Government’s much publicised $60 billion makeover plan for Mumbai, lack of affordable housing and poor public transport facilities dog the common man in a city where over 88 per cent commuters travel by local trains and BEST buses, by the Government’s own admission. The plans for a Metro route between Versova, Andheri and Ghatkopar have also seen delays due to land-acquisition wrangles.

However, the completion of the MUTP II, which aims at segregating lines for local and outstation trains to improve and speed up services, induct additional trains, and convert all trains into 12 car ones, may help improve the lot of train commuters. The rake induction is underway in the ongoing Rs 3,500 crore MUTP I, which aims at reducing the crush load factor to 3,600 per train on completion, though Deshmukh had asked railway authorities to speed up the rake supply.

While the state Government has made a provision of Rs 605 crore for MUTP II, the Railways have demanded an additional contribution from the state. State officials have instead said that the Railways raise the money by selling off its 10-acre plot, estimated to be worth around Rs 900 crore, located near the Bandra Kurla Complex. However, the Railways wrote to the state Government asking for an increase in the FSI for its land and plot to enable their commercial exploitation for funding the MUTP II.

... contd.