Mumbai to get monorail by Sept 2011

The Mumbai Monorail project will take at least another year to be fully functional. Though the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) claims that it is ahead of time, according to sources, the project was delayed because of construction of the curves of the elevated alignment.

MMRDA metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad told DNA that projects such as the monorail normally take at least five years to complete and the authority was running ahead of schedule. “In fact, out of the two consortiums which participated in the monorail bidding, one could not take up the project since they wanted an implementation period of five years. However, we insisted that the construction be completed in two years and six months and hence the present consortium got the work order,” Gaikwad said.

He said there was unexpected delay due to underground utilities and getting various clearances. “A piece of land near Imax theatre in Wadala was protected forest land. We had to get permission from Bhopal for the final go ahead,” he said, adding, “Mumbaikars should bear with us and we promise them a 20km monorail ride by September next year.”

However, in reality, the picture is not all that rosy. According to sources in the MMRDA, Larson and Tubro (L&T), which, along with Malaysian Scomi Engineering is implementing the project, has been having a tough time carrying on the civil work. According to a senior official, the company seems to have been overconfident about the civil work. “Their pace of work is a bit slow. While, the consortium has managed the straight construction, they were having difficulties in constructing the curved beams. This portion is definitely hampering the progress,” the official said.