Mumbai: Ghatkopar station decongestion plan stuck on drawing board

Six months on the railways have not been able to decongest the dangerous Ghatkopar station which records a footfall of 387 lakh people every day one of the highest along CR The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation MRVC Ltd is still working on the final design and no one knows if it is anywhere close to completionmidday had highlighted the issue in its frontpage report on August 30 last year following which Union minister Piyush Goyal had ordered the officials to take immediate actionLocal MP Manoj Kotak who had taken up the matter with Goyal citing the midday report had said Ghatkopar will get longterm solutions within a month Accordingly Central Railway CR planned a massive upgrade including three new 12metre footbridges all linked by an elevated deck an additional skywalk along the road However the railways is going round in circles to complete the paperwork to make commuting via the station seamlessIn November CR had approved the first set of drawings by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation MRVC Ltd Three months have passed since and the MRVC is still working on the detailed drawings which will then be sent to CR and the Commissioner of Rail Safety CRS for a final green signalMeanwhile the MRVChas sent a proposal to use micro piling machines An MRVC official said space to carry out the construction work is minimal so they require micro piling machines that can work within limited headroomFor this we have approached Central Railway and Commissioner of Rail Safety for permissions a top MRVC official told middayCentral Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Shivaji Sutar also told midday The MRVC has recently submitted European code for design of micro piles and it is under examinationHowever no one from the railways has been able to give a specific time frame for the project to take off The MRVC official assured that the decongestion work at the station would be completed within 12 months of getting all the approvals but wasnt sure when the detailed drawings would be readyConstruction work to decongest the Ghatkopar station will take 12 months after the design has been approvedA spokesperson of the MVRC said We shall begin work on the ground once all the relevant sanctions are in placePassenger associations have also complained about the slow pace of the railways in the commencement of the projectThe MRVC is notorious for slow pace of projects and endless delays Since the project involves an important place like Ghatkopar where there is an urgent need for improvement we are worried about the way the MRVC is handling it It is pertinent to build pressure on it said Subhash Gupta a Kurla resident who is also a member of the National Railway Users Consultative CouncilIf the thickskinned railway officials do not follow Railway Minister Piyush Goyals directives god save the railways a local BJP functionary who has been keenly following the project said193 lakhApprox number of commuters every day1 yearTime needed to complete the workThe proposed changes12metrewide foot overbridge FOB at Kalyanend to replace existing 4metrewide FOB12metre FOB in the middle at north end12metre FOB at CSMTend to replace existing 4metrewide FOB75metrewide elevated deck connecting Metro station and all FOBsStaircase and ramps connecting Metro stationSkywalk on road connecting Metro station6metrewide connection to the existing BMC skywalkCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates