New monorail phase-II plan has safety on mind

Monorail phase two trial run held on Independence Day

Following a series of avoidable glitches and the fire incident at the Mysore Colony station on the Wadala-Chembur monorail track in November last year, MMRDA officials finally seem to have learnt the lesson that's better to be safe than sorry. While it's unclear when the authorities plan to kickstart the monorail phase-II, between Jacob circle and Wadala, the planning committee has decided to appoint consultants to review the entire project and design an emergency evacuation system for the monorail network.

Dilip Kawatkar, MMRDA joint project director, said, "Passenger safety has always been our biggest priority. We have invited requests for proposal to appoint consultants to review the phase-II corridor and design a foolproof emergency evacuation system for monorail. The appointed firm will have to review the existing emergency evacuation measures and design a new system to ensure minimum loss to life and property in the event of an accident or fire situation."

MMRDA sources told mid-day that the emphasis on safety is higher for the phase-II because the monorail network passes through some highly popular areas, unlike the phase-I, which dissected less populated regions between Wadala and Chembur.

Following the Mysore Colony station blaze on November 9, last year, the MMRDA had proposed installation of smoke detectors inside monorail coaches to prevent fire situations from getting out of control. Sources had said that there were plans to install cameras at stations to check untoward incidents.

Initially, MMRDA authorities had said that the phase-I will be thrown open for public along with the phase-II, but a delay in procuring the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) certificate for the latter has delayed the plans. According to sources, the MMRDA is facing an average revenue loss of R5 lakh per day due to the suspension of services on monorail phase-I. The monorail phase-II will pass through central Mumbai, covering areas such as Wadala, Parel, Lower Parel, Chinchpokli, Delisle Road and Jacob Circle.

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