Mumbai: MMRDA Seeks Additional Land For Metro Line-6, Awaits Car Depot Approvals For Other Metro Lines

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has requested an additional 5-7 hectares of land along the Kanjurmarg Depot site for the proposed construction of Metro Line-6 between Swami Samarth Nagar-Jogeshwari-Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg.

This request comes in addition to the 15 hectares of land allocated by the state government for the construction of the depot, reports Hindustan Times.

A senior official of the MMRDA stated, “This land is a part of the government-owned area where Kanjurmarg depot is proposed. We are awaiting permission from the state government for this land. We are also waiting for the government's go-ahead for building car depots associated with other metro lines."

In April, the Mumbai suburban collector was directed by the state government to hand over the Kanjurmarg plot for depot construction.

The plot has been a subject of dispute for four years due to conflicting claims of land ownership by multiple government and private entities.

A government resolution (GR) is now waited for the construction of a workshop for both minor and large maintenance, automatic cleaning, and an operations and control centre for all the trains (OCC) on the premises of the depot.

In addition to Kanjurmarg depot, construction of car depots of Mogharpada for Metro Line-4, Kasheli for Metro Line-5, and Uttan for Metro Line-9 are also awaiting approval. The acquisition of this extra land is expected to contribute to overall smoother operations.

Furthermore, the MMRDA recently issued a tender to purchase 108 coaches of metro trains for the route at a cost of Rs 989 crore.

The agency will design, manufacture, supply, test, and commission the coaches, as well as provide necessary employee training. The metro rakes are expected to start arriving in a minimum of two years.

The overall Metro Line-6 is being developed at an estimated cost of Rs 6,700 crore, with a target to complete in next couple of years.

Earlier, the MMRDA officials shared that the corridor has reached 66 per cent completion.

The 15.31-km-long line will provide an important east-west connectivity stretch for the suburban commuters.

The link will be integrated with four other metro routes. This includes the already operational lines of Mumbai Metro — Line 2A and Line-7.  

Additionally, the network will be interconnected to the in-progress, fully underground Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro Line 3, and Line-4 connecting Wadala to Kasardavali.