‘Metro in Navi Mumbai by end 2014’

Navi Mumbai will have metro rail by December 2014 and the much-awaited Navi Mumbai International Airport project will take off in six months, said Tanaji Satre, managing director of the City and Industrial Development Corporation Ltd.

Navi Mumbai will have metro rail by December 2014 and the much-awaited Navi Mumbai International Airport project will take off in six months, said Tanaji Satre, managing director of the City and Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (CIDCO), the nodal agency for the city’s development, during his address at the Hindustan Times for Navi Mumbai Conclave 2012 held at Vashi on Thursday.

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Municipal commissioner Bhaskar Wankhede, one of the panelists, reiterated that round-the-clock water supply, which is already available in 80% of the city, will be extended to all by March 2014. He also promised more hospitals and better connectivity.

The chief guest, state minister and Thane guardian minister Ganesh Naik, was presented with a Navi Mumbai charter enlisting the demands of its residents by HT reader Natraj Krishnan and HT’s Mumbai editor Soumya Bhattacharya.

Naik announced that he would ensure that the city gets world-class infrastructure in the next seven years through his ‘one-time plan’, which has been approved by the Navi Mumbai civic body.

The conclave, held at Fortune Select Exotica hotel, was attended by the who’s who of Navi Mumbai, while the panel included additional commissioner of police Fattehsingh Patil, and Ravi Ahuja, executive director, Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate firm. The discussion was moderated by HT Mumbai’s deputy editor Pravin Nair.

Patil spoke on the law and order situation in the city, and assured citizens that the police force is ready to face anything from modern-day cybercrimes to terrorism. He also addressed the need for traffic discipline.

Ahuja spoke on the need for a one-window clearance system for infra projects and development of tourism spots. The address by the panelists was followed by an interaction with the audience. In an interesting twist, deputy commissioner of police Purshottam Karad, who was in the audience, questioned attendees about traffic indiscipline.

Naik was then given the HT charter. The conclave ended with a vote of thanks by HT’s business head Nitin Chaudhry.

(With inputs from Abishek Desai and Sanjana Bhalerao)