Month after public consultation, MMRDA yet to publish objections to Mumbai’s Metro-6

The agitated citizens are now trying to seek chief minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis’s intervention in the matter.

More than a month after 100 citizens met the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for a consultation over Metro-6 (Swami Samarth Nagar-Vikhroli), the agency is yet to reach out to citizens or publish the minutes of the meeting.

The Metro-6 line starts from Swami Samarth Nagar and connects to Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) with the last stop at Vikhroli on the eastern express highway (EEH).(HT File)

The agitated citizens are now trying to seek chief minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis’s intervention in the matter.

The Metro-6 line starts from Swami Samarth Nagar and connects to Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) with the last stop at Vikhroli on the eastern express highway (EEH).

Residents from Lokhandwala-Powai have been demanding that instead of clogging JVLR, the line be re-routed from Marol Naka, via Saki Vihar road, touching Chandivli and finally reaching Vikhroli.

MMRDA held the meeting at its Bandra-Kurla Complex office on May 21, where citizens slammed the authority for starting on-ground work before holding a public consultation. MMRDA officials had told the citizens that they will reach out to them within a month.

Dilip Kawathkar, joint projects director, MMRDA, said the minutes of the meeting are still under process. “It is under process. Once it is cleared internally, we will publish it on the website,” he said.

Sonali Mishra, a Powai resident, said, “We were told that the minutes will be published in a month’s time. There were so many suggestions and objections put forward by over 100 residents. If MMRDA is not going to consider these demands, then what was the point of a consultation?”

Nitin Killwala, a senior architect who made the plan for an alternative route, said this path will cover denser areas of Chandivli and not clog JVLR.