Mumbai Metro lines 2A and 7 likely to be partially operational by Feb

Mumbai Metro lines 2A and 7 are likely to become partially operational before February 2022, and the entire corridor is likely to start by July 2022. Metro 7 line will operate from Dahisar to Western Express Highway, Andheri, and 2A from Dahisar to D N Nagar. A senior Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) official told the media that about 95% of the work on Phase I is done, and they are confident of beginning the lines in two to three months. The first phase covering 20 km is between Dahanukarwadi to Aarey (18 stations). Both these Metro lines are likely to lessen vehicular traffic by 25%. In September, MMRDA had served show-cause notices to four contractors—J Kumar Infraprojects, NCC, Godrej and Capacite Infraprojects—for the delay in developing Metro station works. The total penalty amounting to over Rs 2 crore will be collected if they fail to achieve the work within the given timeframe. The official said that the showcauses notices have served as a deterrent, and contractors can match the timeline since they have managed to mobilise manpower and machinery to achieve the balance station works. They have not inflicted any penalty yet, but the show cause notices have not been revoked. MMRDA had expected to begin these lines by October 2019. Later, this deadline was updated to December last year. The pandemic in early 2020 resulted in a lockdown and fleeing of labourers to their native place due to which work had come to a pause. The commercial operations were later aimed to start from October 2021 between Kamraj Nagar and Aarey via Dahisar on both lines. The commissioning timeline for the complete stretch of lines 2A and 7 was previously set on January 1, 2022. MMRDA aims to operate services with 11 rakes at a frequency of 15 to 20 minutes initially. As and when rakes get added, the frequency will dip to 5 minutes per train. Both these Metro lines were approved by the Devendra Fadnavis-led government on October 6, 2015. Image Source