Wadala to Chembur in 19 minutes from April?

While MMRDA claims that the Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur monorail will be completed u00a0by April next year, sources say that pending NoCs for the project may pose hurdles

For passengers travelling towards Wadala, news of the Chembur-Wadala monorail construction was a dream come true as it promised to reduce travelling time to 19 minutes.

However, looking at the current state, some sources say that the project is far from completion and motorists will be haunted by traffic snarls for much longer.


The monorail construction is running behind schedule

According to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Develop-ment Authority (MMRDA), and L&T and Malaysian firm Scoomi, who are constructing the Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur (19.5-km) monorail corridor, the work is supposed to end by April 2011 cutting travelling time from Wadala to Chembur to 19 minutes.

However, an official from MMRDA, said, "Though MMRDA is making claims of starting the second phase of the Wadala-Chembur line by April 2011, the ground reality tells a different story as a large amount of work, including civil work is pending.
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Apart from this, the NOC from the fire brigade for constructing stations is still pending." Additionally, the MMRDA is yet to receive clearance from Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) as the pillar of a small portion of monorail near Mahul creek falls under CRZ.

Commuters too, are complaining that the delay in the work has caused several problems for them. The Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur monorail corridor forces commuters to spend an hour to cover a distance of 200 m on
R C Marg in Chembur.

Taran Alag (23), a hotelier from Wadala, who uses the R C Marg regularly, said, " At times, the traffic situation is so bad that it takes me more than 90 minutes to reach Wadala."

Echoing the same grouses, Abhishek Shetty, said, "In the evening, I take the R C Marg and there is no cop to monitoru00a0 traffic leading traffic to move at a snail's pace. I also feel that MMRDA should have studied traffic patterns before making our lives hell."

However, Dilip Kawatkar, joint project director of MMRDA, said that the MMRDA and traffic police are working in close coordination to reduce the traffic snarls that occur because of the ongoing construction.

"For any development that takes place for a better future, inconvenience will be caused and once the monorail is operational commuters will thank MMRDA for making their journey more comfortable and safe."

Project name: Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur monorail
Cost: R2,716 crore
Project started: February 2009
Official date of completion: May 2011
Present Status: 80 per cent work completed

Benefits
REDUCED TRAFFIC: Jacob Circle-Wadala-Chembur monorail route will help reduce nearly 28,000 taxis and autorickshaw trips and take 25,000 private cars off the roads
REDUCED TIME TRAVEL: MMRDA claims that the 40-minute commute will be reduced to 21-minutes
REDUCEd CROWD: The capacity of four cars in the monorail system is 8,000 to 12,000 per hour per direction (PHPD)
REDUCED POLLUTION: Monorail produces less noise and is eco-friendly.