HC lifts stay, paves way for new train station at Thane

Welcoming the decision, chief minister Eknath Shinde said that the high court’s decision would speed up the work, and a new station would reduce the burden of commuter footfalls on Thane and Mulund railway stations, giving relief to thousands of daily commuters.

Mumbai: The decks have been cleared for the construction of a new railway station between Thane and Mulund stations near the Thane mental hospital after the Bombay high court lifted a stay and allowed the transfer of the hospital’s 14-acre land.

An aerial view of the 14-acre site of Thane Mental Hospital. The Bombay High Court on Friday lifted the stay order on transfer of the hospital’s land paving the way for the construction of a new railway station between Thane and Mulund. (Praful Gangurde. HT PHOTO)

Welcoming the decision, chief minister Eknath Shinde said that the high court’s decision would speed up the work, and a new station would reduce the burden of commuter footfalls on Thane and Mulund railway stations, giving relief to thousands of daily commuters.

A new station was proposed to reduce the load on Thane and Mulund stations more than eight years ago. Thane railway station, one of the oldest central railway stations, alone gets a footfall of six to seven lakh daily commuters. Central Railway approved the plan and funds of ₹289 crore were allocated for the project under the Thane municipal corporation’s Smart City scheme.

The work on the new station was to start after the state health department transferred the Thane mental hospital land to Central Railway. The new station plan required 14.83 acres of land from the hospital’s 72-acre premises.

CM Shinde chaired several meetings to resolve the legal issue. The Maharashtra government recently also submitted an affidavit underlining the larger public interest in the creation of a new station, and how it would reduce the burden on both Thane and Mulund stations.

On Friday, Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep V Marne lifted the stay. The court also directed that adequate care be taken to ensure that the female wards of the mental hospital were not impacted and alternative rehabilitation arrangements were made before the land transfer. State advocate-general Virendra Saraf, government counsels P Kakade and Nisha Mehra represented the state, while senior counsel R S Apte and Mandar Limaye appeared for the Thane municipal corporation during the hearings.

“The new station will reduce 31 percent of the burden on Thane railway station and 21 percent on Mulund station,” said Shinde in a statement. “The court’s decision underlines once again that the judiciary always takes a positive stance when it comes to the larger public interest and creation of ground infrastructure facilities. The new station will provide relief to daily commuters from Thane and Mulund, and also help reduce congestion in the vicinity of the station.”

The development comes a day before Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis are scheduled to inaugurate a clutch of development works in Thane and Kalwa. On Saturday afternoon, the duo will perform a bhoomi pujan for ₹398 crore worth of road projects and beautification works completed on the banks of Thane creek at Kopar and Kalwa. They will also inaugurate the underground parking lot at Gaondevi maidan near Thane station, which has a capacity of 130 four-wheelers and 120 two-wheelers to help reduce parking problems at the station.

The CM and his deputy will also launch 11 electric buses and 20 CNG-run buses acquired by the Thane Municipal Transport Undertaking and inaugurate a new delivery and surgery section at Kalwa’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital, which has also expanded its intensive care units to 32 beds.

Caption: Thane Mental Hospital entrance in Thane West. A top shot of the 14-acre land of the hospital that will be transferred to the railways for construction of the new station