Land acquisition process begins for Parel-CSMT 5th & 6th rail lines

Procurement of land begins for 5th and 6th rail lines on Parel-CSMT stretch in Mumbai, part of ₹1,337 crore project to add new lines between Kurla and CSMT.

MUMBAI: The process to procure land for the 5th and 6th rail lines on the Parel-CSMT stretch, which is a part of the ₹1,337-crore addition of two new rail lines between Kurla and CSMT, has begun. The state government is looking to acquire over 1,263 square metres of land near Masjid railway station for the construction of these two rail lines meant to segregate suburban locals from long-distance trains.

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On Thursday, a notification was issued under the ‘Right Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013’, detailing the requirement of 1,263 sq m of land in Kurla taluka. Four different land parcels will need to be acquired for the 5th and 6th rail lines.

According to Central Railway (CR) officials, the need is for land parcels that fall within the CSMT and Byculla areas, close to Masjid station. “Currently, we are identifying the plots jointly with the state government,” explained a CR official. “Measuring has begun, and these four plots are part of this process. As there are a lot of encroachments on the land, at this point it would be difficult to state the number of project-affected persons.”

The first phase in the addition of the two new rail lines will be from Kurla to Parel while the second phase will be on the Parel-CSMT stretch. CR needs 10,000 sq mt of land on the Kurla-Parel stretch spread across Kurla, Sion, Matunga and Parel. “We have already acquired 6,000 sq mt of land for the Kurla-Parel corridor. The remaining is under process,” said another CR official.

The acquisition of around 0.40 hectares of land in Swadeshi Mills in Kurla is underway. The much-awaited 5th and 6th lines between Parel and Kurla have a deadline of 1.5 to two years. CR has already completed the missing link of the Thane-Diva 5th and 6th lines, which has ensured that long-distance trains from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus do not infringe on the suburban rail corridor right up to Kalyan.

The project holds significant promise for commuters, as it is expected to pave the way for approximately 200 additional suburban local train services from Parel. Recently, CR authorities moved the starting point of suburban slow trains from Dadar to Parel for their platform-widening project, which is now complete.

The project, initially sanctioned in 2008 at an estimated cost of ₹890.89 crore, has been revised to ₹1,337 crore. It is being executed in two phases: Phase 1 spans from Kurla to Parel, covering 10.1 km, while Phase 2 covers the 7.4-km stretch from Parel to CSMT.