Mumbai Urban Transport Project gets a zero on report card

The Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) was launched in 2003 with five implementing agencies, approximately Rs4,500 crore at stake and a commitment to improve the face of the city’s public transport.

Today, almost seven years and numerous delays later, the agencies have not been able to finish even a single component of the project successfully, a fact that the nodal agency Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has admitted in a progress report sent to the World Bank, which has partly funded the project.

From the report, it is clear that many project components are not up to the mark. The key road components of the MUTP are two newly-constructed roads – The Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) and the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR).

While work on the JVLR began in June 2003, the more complicated work for SCLR began in March 2008.

“As per the Project Appraisal Documents (PAD), travel time from the Western Express Highway (WEH) to the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) via JVLR should have not been more than
30 minutes.

“But, at present it takes almost 84 minutes during peak hours by the same route,” states the report accessed by DNA. “Similarly,” says the report, “The SCLR connecting WEH and EEH should ideally be 20 minutes. However, it takes 46 minutes during peak evening hours via Sion at present,” the report states.

While JVLR work is 95% complete, as per MMRDA claims, SCLR work has been running at snail’s pace due to many issues. Only 60% of the work has been completed so far. 

“We have resolved almost all the rehabilitation and resettlement (R-R) issues – which are MMRDA’s responsibility – on JVLR. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation is
the implementing agency for it. I am sure they will complete it soon,” said MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar.