Banking on Metro Man E Sreedharan's statement that underground networks are five times more prone to terror strikes, MMRDA will reason with Bandra, Juhu locals, who are against the elevated corridor
Banking on Metro Man E Sreedharan's statement that underground networks are five times more prone to terror strikes, MMRDA will reason with Bandra, Juhu locals, who are against the elevated corridor
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Not going under: The residents of Juhu and Bandra West are against
MMRDA's plan to have an elevated route, as they feel that narrow roads
will lead to ugly traffic jams during the construction period.
The MMRDA is now planning to use Sreedharan's statement to convince the residents of Bandra and Juhu, who are opposing the proposed elevated Charkop-Bandra- Mankhurd (CBM) metro corridor.
Speaking to MiD DAY, an MMRDA official, requesting anonymity, said, "Last week, DMRC Chief while speaking at a programme clearly said that underground metro lines are more prone to terror attacks than the elevated ones, which is very true. We will take help of this statement to convince the residents of Juhu and Versova who are opposing the elevated CBM corridor."
Just a few months ago, a delegation led by local MP Priya Dutt, including MLA Baba Siddiqui, Krishna Hegde and residents from Bandra and Juhu, had met Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan with a presentation highlighting pros and cons of the elevated and underground metro lines. The residents of Juhu and Bandra West are against MMRDA's plan to have an elevated route, as they feel that narrow roads will lead to ugly traffic jams during the construction period. However, MMRDA has already made it clear that it will only construct an elevated corridor, as the cost of constructing an underground one is five times higher than an elevated corridor.
Commenting on the issue, MMRDA Commissioner Rahul Asthana said, "We will seek expert advice for security-related issues pertaining to elevated and underground metro rail."