Mumbai: Infra biggies talk transport, projects

It was housefull and not a seat in sight either in the stalls or balcony just metaphorically speaking on Tuesday evening at the Walchand Hirachand Hall in the Indian Merchantsrsquo Chamber IMC building at Churchgate The IMC played host to an interactive session to the men who matter to Mumbai The panel discussion was lsquoMumbais Infrastructure What is neededrsquo and the speakers were Ajoy Mehta Municipal Commissioner BMC as it is colloquially known or MCGM Ashwini Bhide Managing Director Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation MMRC and UPS Madan Commissioner Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDAThe Mumbai Metro gleams as the Mumbaikar dreamsThe hot button topic in Maximum City is infrastructure which explains the frisson of excitement in the Hall as the trio walked in albeit a little late just as the audience shifted restivelyAshwini Bhide Ajoy Mehta UPS MadanAfter brief introductions the panel discussion got off to a start with the audience given a small map of the proposed route for the Mumbai Metro III project Even as the audience was glancing at it Bhide stated ldquoThe Mumbai Metro III is the cityrsquos most ambitious project to date Till some time ago it was Mumbairsquos robust public transport system especially its Railway network which gave the city a competitive edge Over time this system got over saturated We saw the edge dimmed because of this Now the best possible way to enhance the transport is by the Mumbai Metro planrdquoBhide cited the success of the first Metro corridor which has cut commute time from 70 minutes to 17 and that earned her a smattering of applause The Metro III right from Cuffe Parade in South Mumbai to the Aarey Milk Colony ldquohas a cost of R 23000 crorerdquo Bhide stated as the speaker quite literally reached dizzying heights ldquoYet funds are not a problem what has delayed the start since 2011 is so many different opinions My team is committed now to finish this project within five yearsrdquo the lady in the cool lime green sari ended on a rousing noteFor MMRDArsquos UPS Madan who took the mike after Bhide it was time to talk about various improvements made to the rail service ldquonew rakes new tracks from ninecar we now have 12 to 15 car trains but we saw through the years that we needed more of a comfort factor in our commutingrdquo One could see empathetic nods all around Madan added ldquoSo the Metro is a panacea to the discomfortrdquo Madan added that first it was thought that after completing one Metro corridor another would be built but that meant slowing down the project considerably and now ldquowe need to run the construction simultaneously as time is of the essencerdquo Madan touched upon the Monorail admitting that Phase I has gone through ldquoareas that are not too crowded but the all important Phase II from Jacob Circle to Wadala will go through much more congested areasrdquo Touching upon the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link MTHL he stated to some laughs ldquoWe are not fooling you it is going to happenrdquo and said that right now projects are piecemeal but the city ldquowill feel the full benefits of changes when all arms are completed like a complete Metro network for instancerdquo finished the man in the maroon turbanThen of course it was the turn for the man ldquowith the maximum headachesrdquo as he was introduced BMC chief Ajoy Mehta and first up because the BMC is the favourite whipping boy of the citizens Mehta stated ldquothe BMC is one of the most efficient in the country Like in every workplace you have people who do not work as much as others but overall it funtions very wellrdquo he explained Mehta was brilliant and succinct he reminded the audience that the topic of the seminar was ldquoInfrastructure What does Mumbai needrdquo Breaking up his address into four points he said ldquoFirst we need infrastructure that facilitates employment Second with employment you need housing Third we have to ensure quality of life which means open spaces entertainment avenues schools etc and finally infrastructure means social equity Today we have 17 per cent women in the work force in this city This cannot go on more women need to be in the work force and we also have to make our infra more disabledcompliant to see that every individual contributes to the growth of the cityrdquo Even as the laser sharp analysis ended Mehta got loud applause when he stated that environment and infrastructure were not opposed but must go together ldquoit is not houses vs mangroves for merdquo Signing off Mehta had one more arrow which hits bulls eye with his audience ldquoWe are moving towards scientific processing of garbage Waste has to have value and we have currently not been disposing it of in the right wayrdquoAs the hour ticked by there was an interactive session and it showed a healthy spirit of questioning Overall though one could discern some cheer amongst the audience Can we afford to be bullish on Mumbai Sometimes a little bull maybe the skeptics may have thought but definitely more bullish than bull Get a move on Mumbai