Mumbai: Dropping Amar Mahal station will cut off crucial Mono link

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in his role as MMRDA chairman seems to be on a Metro stations dropping spree In a surprising move on Tuesday without soliciting public opinion or suggestions Shinde removed a crucial future interchange point for public transport in the eastern suburbs by deleting the Amar Mahal Junction station from the Mumbai Metro Green Line 4 WadalaThane map This marks the fifth station to be removed since construction commencedThis station could have served as an intersection point for the isolated Mumbai Monorail and the Chembur railway station on the harbour lineAlongside Amar MahalJunction other dropped stations include Suman Nagar due to its close proximity within a kilometre of the next station citing costcutting measures The decision to cancel the National College station at Bandra West along Line 2B was also endorsed at the meetingThe station could have served as an intersection point for the isolated Mumbai Monorail and the Chembur railway station Representation picAshish RajeEarlier in 2020 Kurla LTT station and MMRDA stations on Yellow Line 2B DN NagarMankhurd were also removedWhy are such decisions made secretly without inviting public suggestions and opinions This is a matter of public interest Also when a Detailed Project Report is meticulously made and accepted how can it be overridden at this stage It disrupts the larger picture of connectivity activist Anil Galgali expressed to middayThe decision has faced severe criticism from citizens Amar Mahal junctions importance lies in its connection to the Ramkrishna Chemburkar Road where the Chembur Terminal point of Indias only Monorail over a 2021km stretch is situated This area lacks connectivity to the closest Metro Blue Line 1 at Ghatkopar and has now lost its proposed proximity to the Metro Green Line 4 stationMMRDA officials declined to comment officially but sources mentioned that a station at Amar Mahal on Green Line was deemed technically unfeasible due to multiple flyovers hightension wire towers and insufficient land for construction Suman Nagar station on Green Line 4 situated at the junction of SionTrombay Road and Eastern Express Highway EEH was dropped due to its closeness to the next Siddhart Colony station on Yellow Line 2B sources explainedThe Green Line 4 Mumbais longest Metro stretching from WadalaThaneKasarvadivli initially had 32 stations along a 3232 km route Now with two stationsmdashSuman Nagar and Amar Mahal junctionmdashdropped the line will have 30 stations only The route passes through Eastern Express Highway encompassing Amar Mahal Junction LBS Road Cadbury Junction TikujiniWadi amp KasarvadivliIn 2020 Yellow Line 2B saw the removal of LTT Kurla station due to airspace restrictions MMRDA station in BKC due to overlap with Kalanagar flyovers ramp and recently the National College station at Bandra due to local residents oppositionAt Bandra some residents continue to advocate for the reinstatement of the National College station While certain groups opposed the stations relocation citing its impact on Sadhu Vaswani Park other groups under Save National College Station campaign for its return initiating an online petitionVoices echo various concerns Two of the busiest junctions on this route will have no stations Isnt that akin to building the Mumbai Western Railway line without stations at Dadar amp Bandra expressed a concerned citizen Bharat RamIt seems someone desperately wants the metro to fail How can important stations like Amar Mahal amp Suman Nagar be scrapped Said another citizen Vishal FirkeAmar Mahal was crucially needed The real reason might be the auto nexus and mafia which charges Rs 10 per seat instead of using the meter their interests would have been affected said resident Harsh GosarWhat a lack of foresight Amar Mahal is such a critical junction Chembur residents should protest Ideally they should plan Amar Mahal to Teen Hath Naka via the Eastern Expressway This is terrible planning said Gaurav PednekarThere should be a station between Amar Mahal and X Shoppers Stop People residing in between wont benefit from a station in Garodia Nagar Certainly a station at Tilak Nagar junction would be feasible said resident Bala GFiveNo of stations removed till now32No of stations originally planned for Green Line 4