BKC monorail plan axed

Less than two years after the chief minister gave his nod to a Monorail within the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has decided against building it.

Less than two years after the chief minister gave his nod to a Monorail within the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has decided against building it.

HT Image

The authority is re-evaluating the Monorail because a Bandra-International Airport Metro line that will cover this stretch too is also being planned.

“We are not doing the project because there are plans of building a Metroline from Bandra to the international airport,” Joint Metropolitan Commissioner Ashwini Bhide said.

The BKC, with its high workforce population was seen as a lucrative route for setting up a transportation line. The 9-km stretch from Kala Nagar to Bandra (East) station via the Bharat Diamond Bourse was touted as a means of transport for 40,000 people working in the business hub.

The project was cleared in October 2008. The Monorail was to be built in two phases. The first stretch, 4-km long, was to be from Kala Nagar to Bharat Diamond Bourse and the second from the diamond bourse to Bandra (East) station, 5 km away. The cost of the project was estimated to be Rs 1,125 crore.

The MMRDA has also been contemplating scrapping the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan Monorail because studies suggested the agency will earn less that it invests.

The MMRDA is now planning to build a Bhiwandi-Kalyan line, instead.

“Infrastructure projects in Mumbai are being planned poorly. The authorities have a habit of running after big ticket projects without analysing their impact,” transport expert Ashok Datar said.