‘MMRC chief kept Metro-3 on track’

For Ashwini Bhide, head of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) who was transferred from the post on Tuesday, the biggest challenge in her five-year stint was

For Ashwini Bhide, head of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) who was transferred from the post on Tuesday, the biggest challenge in her five-year stint was battling controversies amid execution of the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz or Metro-3 corridor.

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Bhide and her team had to fight the perception that the 33.5-km line will destroy the city’s fabric and also eat up open spaces. It divided Mumbaiites into two groups – one which admired her dedication for the project and the other which alleged that Bhide and MMRC were intolerant of the larger public opinion. After her ouster by the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, many tweeted using the hashtag #GetAshwiniBhideBack, fearing a change in guard would delay the project. So far, 74% of the tunnelling for the project has been completed and 100% excavation for 13 of the 27 stations is done.

Srikanth Ramakrishnan, a resident of Andheri, who has been following the project closely, said, “She has been very open about the project details, a rarity in India when it comes to public infrastructure. She also held constant interactions to explain the complex details of the project.”

The ₹23,136-crore project involves cutting across old, dilapidated buildings of south Mumbai, constructing tunnels beneath the Mithi river, construction of steel-deck roads to manage traffic and resettlement of 734 tenants in Girgaum and Kalbadevi. The most contested part of the project is building a car shed in the ecologically sensitive Aarey Colony. MMRC, backed by a Bombay high court order, cut more than 2,000 trees in Aarey in October 2019, which also led to demand for her ouster by Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray.

A colleague said, “She has handled the controversies well. She is a practical officer who didn’t want the project to get delayed. It would have been good if she had continued, considering she now has decade-long experience in urban development.”

In her previous stint as the additional metropolitan commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Bhide executed the Eastern Freeway project, which involved construction of complex tunnels, along with securing permissions to build near mangroves. She has also been credited for rehabilitating 5,000 families displaced owing to the state government’s various projects.

Zoru Bhathena, who has been at the forefront of the ‘Save Aarey’ campaign, said, “We must give her credit for the amount of work done for Metro-3, but she also ignored others’ views.”

Bhide’s successor Ranjit Singh Deol is expected to take charge on Thursday.