Ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls early in 2017, regional planning body Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), on October 19, 2016, cleared two metro projects – the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro (Line 5) and Lokhandwala-Jogeshwari-Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg Metro (Line 6) corridors.
While the Maharashtra government has been adding more infrastructure projects, worth billions of dollars in the city since it came to power two years ago, work has not started on any of them. The only functional metro service in the city of over 2 crore people, is the 11-km Versova-Ghatkopar line, which is operated by Reliance Infra.
See also: Mumbai-Thane metro line to finally become a reality
The 24-km-long Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro 5 corridor, will have 17 stations and cost Rs 8,416 crore, while the 14.5-km-long Lokhandwala-Jogeshwari-Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg Metro 6, will have 13 stations and will involve an investment of Rs 6,672 crore, the MMRDA said, in a statement.
The 17 stations on the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Metro 5 corridor are: Kalyan APMC, Kalyan Station, Sahajanand Chowk, Durgadi Fort, Kon Gaon, Gove Gaon Midc, Rajnouli Village, Temghar, Gopal Nagar, Bhiwandi, Dhamankar Naka, Anjur Phata, Purna, Kalher, Kasheli, Balkumbh Naka, and Kapurbawdi.
The 13 stations on Lokhandwala-Jogeshwari-Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg corridor are: Lokhandwala Complex, Adarsh Nagar, Momin Nagar, JVLR, Shyam Nagar, Mahakali Caves, SEEPZ Village, Saki Vihar Road, Ram Baug, Powai Lake, IIT Powai, Kanjurmarg (W) and Vikhroli-EEH.
Both these projects will be placed before the state Cabinet for approval, the statement said. The other three proposed metro lines include the Rs 24,000-crore Colaba-SEEPZ underground line and two lines connecting the eastern and northern suburbs.
Besides these metro projects, the MMRDA meeting chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, also cleared a Rs 194-crore project, to set up 500 Wi-Fi hotspots in the city, as well as Rs 259 crore for widening the rail overbridge at Kopri in Thane.
