First monorail will get longer

A planning goof-up by the authorities now means that the alignment of the city’s first monorail will be changed. The Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur monorail, which was originally going to be 19.54 km, will now be extended by 750 m, to avoid construction on a narrow stretch on the Parel Tank Road.

A planning goof-up by the authorities now means that the alignment of the city’s first monorail will be changed. The Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur monorail, which was originally going to be 19.54 km, will now be extended by 750 m, to avoid construction on a narrow stretch on the Parel Tank Road.

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As per the original plan, the monorail was to begin at the Mint Colony station on GD Ambedkar Marg, crossing the Acharya Donde Marg, continuing on to the Parel Tank Road. It then would have crossed Jerbai Wadia Road and eventually met again on G.D. Ambedkar Marg at Naigaon.

The constructors found out later that it was going to be difficult to build the monorail on the narrow Parel Tank Road.
“People residing in buildings along the Parel Tank Road could have reached out and touched the monorail had we constructed it on that stretch. We have decided to change the alignment slightly,” a senior official said.

The planners have now decided to make a detour of the Parel Tank Raod. This means that the project length will increase by 750 m.

In the new plan, the monorail will take a left turn from G. D. Ambedkar Marg towards King Edward Memorial Hospital. From there it will take a right run and pass between Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital and Nowrojee Wadia Maternity Hospital and then will return back to GD Ambedkar Marg at Naigaon. The change in alignment has also meant that the location of the Ambedkar Nagar monorail station will be changed. Originally, it was to come on the Parel Tank Road, but now the station will be on the Acharya Donde Marg outside King Edward Memorial Hospital and GS Medical College.

Officials claim that although the monorail’s length has increased, the contractors have not asked for a hike in the project cost which is Rs 2,450 crore.