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Mumbai: 

LESSON TO LEARN: This truck loaded with firewood caved in at Jacob Circle near Mahalaxmi last week. Three people lost their lives

Alarmed by the Jacob Circle road collapse, the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) wants to take no chances. MMOPL, which is constructing Mumbai's first metro rail, wants to ensure that the project is foolproof.

Last week, the road at Jacob Circle, Mahalaxmi, collapsed due to leakage in the main sewerage lines, which weakened the road.

Taking a lesson from the incident, the metro rail project authorities are now modifying the 12-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor to dodge the underground utilities like water, sewerage, gas pipelines, electricity and telephone cables.

Delayed

The excess of underground utilities right on the centre of the road is delaying the progress of the project.

"We were earlier supposed to shift these underground utilities, but it was not only delaying the project, but was also exceeding the project cost. So, we will now construct the pillar away from these utilities," said an MMOPL spokesperson.

MMOPL also faced problems while shifting these utilities. They were allowed to shift water and sewerage pipelines, but had trouble in altering the alignment of the gas and electric cable lines. Another official from MMOPL said, "We will be placing two pile caps (a concrete base on which pillars would be placed) on both sides of the pillar to strengthen it."

Project behind schedule

Dr E Shreedharan, the brain behind Delhi Metro Rail, has written to the Planning Commission, explaining how the Mumbai metro rail project is far behind its scheduled time. The Delhi Metro Rail wants the Centre and the state to take cue and to hand over rail projects to private companies. In the letter, Shreedharan has mentioned that MMOPL has not shown the required confidence in the BOT (build, operate and transfer) route and is moving at a snail's pace. MMOPL spokesperson said, "The project is well on target and will complete it in the next 30 months, ahead of the five-year deadline."