Mumbai Metro 4 station removal will create a 3-km gap

Chief Minister Eknath Shindersquos decision as Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA chairman to drop the Amar Mahal Junction Metro station from the WadalaThane Green Line 4 has resulted in a nearly 3km gap between Siddharth Colony station at Kurla signal and Garodia Nagar station near the old Ghatkopar pumping station on the GhatkoparMahul Roadmidday took a walk from the former station which is coming up as a combined station for Green Line 4 and Yellow Line 2B to the latter one to assess the situation The distance from Siddharth Colony station to Amar Mahal junction is about 178 km and the distance from Amar Mahal junction to Garodia Nagar station is about 073 km taking the total distance to nearly 26 kmShinde has recently given sanction to delete two stations from the Green Line 4 map Suman Nagar and Amar Mahal Junction While the deletion of the former is unlikely to impact the populace the deletion of the latter will affect a large number of commuters and passengers as the junction is a key integration point of over six roads and a highrisk zoneAs per a study conducted by traffic safety organisations that are assisting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC in redesigning key city junctions the Amar Mahal junction in Chembur is one of the deadliest intersections in the city with 24 fatalities recorded at the spot in the past three years and among the 20 highrisk crossings that will be redesigned by the BMC to make them saferTransmission line issue solvedAt the junction there is a set of transmission lines that form an overhead web which has been stated as a possible reason for the deletion of the station But Tata Power Company in consultation with the Mumbai Metro team had designed and proposed to build a novel threecircuit hightension transmission tower Carrying 220 kV power lines overhead the tower was to facilitate the clearance of obstructing transmission lines over the Metro rail network between Amar Mahal Ghatkopar and Vikhroli to be completed by December 2021 The project proposed to raise the height of the tower from 357 m to a record 501 m without affecting the regular power supply The Metro Project Implementation UnitMMRDA appreciated the effort as it not only helped cut costs but also reduced the project cycle time to help it execute all line crossings of Yellow Line 2B Green Line4 and two crossings of Pink Line 6 in adherence to Railwaysrsquo and Central Electricity Authority CEA regulations Tata Power officials confirmed that the work had been completed as per the plan begging the question why did the MMRDA not factor in the Amar Mahal Junction station at the timeCriticSpeakThe Metro Line 4 from Wadala to Kasarvadavli in Thane is 3232 km long elevated corridor Earlier as per the detailed project report DPR it had 32 stations but now has been reduced to 30 stations MMRDA officials refused to comment or say anything on record on the matterldquoDeleting several Metro stations is nothing but a deficiency of ideas and a dumb mindset of the government in transport planning Amar Mahal junction was always one of the most chaotic intersections where flyovers and subways are added on express highwaysarterial roads Yet itrsquos an important location from commutersrsquo point of view Had the Metro been underground as vehemently suggested by citizens we would have had much better connectivityrdquo prominent architect Nitin Killawala saidldquoWhen the MMRDA has no qualms about deleting five Metro stations out of 48 from lines 2B and 4 it amounts to reducing almost 10 per cent of Metro stations which is unfortunate The government will now cite cost optimisation of the project to justify its decision but in reality it is the snatching of the convenience of the commuters foreverrdquo Killawala addedPolitical impactThe move by Shinde has also been questioned by Opposition parties ldquoCM Shinde has lately been dropping stations across the Mumbai Metro network the latest being the Suman Nagar and Amar Mahal stations He has so far dropped five stations from the planned network after the construction had already begun What is the motive behind CM Eknath Shinde jirsquos decisionsrdquo NCP National Spokesperson Clyde Crasto saidldquoThe Metro network has been designed by experts so if the stations are being dropped does it mean that these experts did not know their job Funds were sanctioned by the BJPled Maharashtra cabinet and construction had begun Does it mean that funds were passed without a proper study The CM is wasting public money which he must be surely aware of Cancelling these stations will cause extreme inconvenience to Mumbaikars because experts had planned them keeping the convenience of commuting for Metro users Therefore CM Eknath Shinde ji needs to answer all these questions and also needs to tell the people of Mumbai his motive behind the decisionrdquo he added3232 kmTotal length of Metro Line 430No of stations on Metro Line 4