Four years on, Chikhloli station remains on paper

As commuters beyond Kalyan wait for their promised new station of Chikhloli between Ambernath and Badlapur the Railways have said they are awaiting funding from the Maharashtra government and the project will be taken up at a later stageThe construction of the station received a nod from the ministry of railways in 2019 and the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation MRVC finalised a concept for two additional 14km lines between Kalyan and Badlapur which includes the new station segregated under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3A MUTP 3A at around R1510 croreAs per commercial records the station is to come up 6417 km from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus CSMT It will be located 434 km from Ambernath station and 31 km from Badlapur stationThe overall plan is to have two lines one on either side of the existing tracks to boost capacity From the Kalyan side proceeding to Badlapur a new line will be constructed on the east side of the Karjatbound track while another new line will be constructed on the west side of the CSMTbound track as there is not enough space to have both the new tracks on either side of the existing lines The tracks will then be joined in a way to make two sets of up and down tracks one of which will serve suburban trains while the other pair will be used by the main line and goods trainsGiving a status update on the project in an RTI reply to a local commuter activist MRVC officials said the work is under process and is subject to the provision of funds from the state governmentAlso Read Mumbai Asiarsquos first woman loco pilot drives Vande Bharat ExpressldquoA new station named Chikhloli has been planned in between Ambernath and Badlapur railway stations This station shall be constructed under the project work of the 3rd and 4th line between KalyanBadlapur sanctioned under MUTP 3A shared on a 5050 basis by the Maharashtra government and railway ministry The construction of Chikhloli station involves the acquisition of approximately eight hectares of land However the required funds for this project have not been received from the Maharashtra government On receiving the funds the land acquisition process shall be completed and work of the new station shall be carried out along with third and fourth line projectrdquo the written reply a copy of which is with midday statedRTI activist Anup Mhetre said ldquoAll local residents were so happy when the station was first announced Elected public representatives proudly laid the foundation stone I filed an RTI application to learn why work had not started despite big announcements and the function The state governmentrsquos funds for the project are yet to arrive I appeal to the Maharashtra government to expedite the funding processrdquoShailesh Raut president KalyanKasara Railway Passenger Association stated that since the station was sanctioned four years ago local residents and commuters had been eagerly awaiting it ldquoIt is a sad state of affairs that the station is still stuck in the land acquisition process and quite shocking to know that the state government is yet to release funds Those who live in the area suffer a lot as they have to walk or take autos or any available mode of transport from Badlapur and Ambernath stationsrdquo Raut saidRefusing to speak on the record Maharashtra government officials said that they are in a continuous dialogue with Railways and R250 crore had been allotted for MUTP projects in the budget tabled in February 20232019Year nod was given to build station