Union Budget 2022: Mumbai local trains need revival, say experts

While the general budget was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with an outlay of Rs 14036713 crore for the railways the detailed allocations of pink book that give a projectwise breakup are still awaitedIn 2021 the Mumbai railway had got an allocation of Rs 650 crore midday takes a look at which promised works have been completed so far and targeted to be completed by March 31 the current financial yearMUTP projects underwayLast year for Mumbai suburban in particular adequate money had been allocated to foot overbridges new road overbridges and other pending corridors with more focus on new road bridges The Mumbai Urban Transport Project2 MUTP2 had been allocated a sum of R200 crore which includes the new ThaneDiva lines The MUTP3 had been allocated around R300 crore and MUTP3A around Rs 150 croreThe ThaneDiva new lines under MUTP2 is in full swing and is expected to be complete by February 2022 and work on Digha station on the Airoli Kalwa link under MUTP3 is also currently on and expected to be completed by December 2022 The work on Kalyan remodelling under MUTP3A will also speed off this year with a few tenders already allocatedPassenger amenitiesAmong passenger amenities on Western Railway in 2021 work of 20 road overbridges 78 road underbridges have been completed and 20 foot overbridges have been commissioned in 2021 Similarly 24 escalators and 17 lifts have also been commissioned on the Western Railway zoneOver Western Railwayrsquos Mumbai suburban rail network 14 new foot overbridges FOBs were commissioned until March 2021 while five more FOBs and a skywalk were commissioned until December 2021 Also 14 new escalators were commissioned till March 2021 while six new escalators were commissioned till December 2021 and five new lifts were commissioned by March 2022In the year 202021 a total expenditure of Rs 77 crore was incurred on new works and maintenance of FOBs while in the year 202122 a total expenditure of R35 crore was incurred on new works and maintenance of FOBs up to November 2021 by Western Railway On CR 13 FOBs were provided during the year 2021 and five twin escalators in the Mumbai division In addition to this CCTV cameras were installed in 200 ladiesrsquo coaches of 37 local rakes In 2021 new home platforms were also provided at Kopar and Ambernath stationsNo mention about Maharashtra rail projectsldquoThis time the railways was mentioned in just one line which we railway passenger members didnrsquot like We will examine the detailed allocations on what has been given to Mumbai but overall we are disappointedrdquo said Nandkumar Deshmukh president of Federation of Suburban Passengers Association ldquoThere was no mention of Maharashtra rail projects or passenger safety in the Budget The lifeline of the city needs revival and hope there is money allocated for its improvementrdquo Subhash Gupta president Rail Yatri ParishadRoad transport sector disappointedldquoThe road transport sector of India is feeling left out and disappointed with todayrsquos budget This sector has been suffering for the past many years and the worst in the past two years due to the COVID19 outbreak The road transport sector has been up and alive to maintain the continuity of the supply chain of essential commodities medicines and oxygen supplyrdquo said Bal Malkit Singh chairman core committee and former president AllIndia Motor Transport Congress AIMTCldquoThe budget is focussed on futuristic infrastructure development rather than on present adversities faced by the common man and the transport sector The rising inflation and reducing disposal income raised hopes of relief for the middleclass but that too dashed to the ground Perhaps the government is blinded to the plight of the common man and is only concerned with the corporatization and macroeconomic metrics Singh saidHe further added The road transport sector of India which is supposedly the backbone of the country and provides sustenance to about 20 crore citizens associated with the transport trade deplore the continued apathy of the government to this sectorrdquo he saidRs 650crThe amount allotted to Mumbai railways in the 2021 budget