As the tug-of-war between Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) officials and the residents' association continues, the former claimed that there are about 60 redevelopment proposals with government agencies which fall in the alignment of the country’s first monorail. Officials said the residents should understand that property prices will shoot up once the metro and monorail lines are operational.

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Clarifying that there was not a single building in the alignment of the proposed second line of metro, between Charkop and Mankhurd via Bandra, MMRDA joint metropolitan commissioner Ashwini Bhide said the authorities would continue to make efforts to let residents understand the importance of the infrastructure project. “With the monorail coming up from Chembur to Jacob Circle via Wadala, many residents have been approached by private developers, seeking redevelopment. The number is as high as 60. Residents must understand that their property value is most likely to jump multifold once the metro or monorail run through their area. I wonder why some residents are causing this deliberate misunderstanding against infra projects,” said Bhide.

However Juhu-based architect Nitin Killawala does not agree with the bureaucrat. “Officials claim they will complete the metro line from Versova to Ghatkopar via Andheri by next August. However, the same officials admit that construction of the Andheri rail over-bridge is complicated and will take at least eight months to complete. Bhide also claimed that stations at Ghatkopar, Asalfa, the Western Express highway and Andheri are nearly on schedule, which is misinformation. In any case, there is no visible sign of the remaining eight stations: Versova, DN Nagar, Azad Nagar, Chakala, Airport road, Marol Naka, Saki Naka and Subhash Nagar,” Killawala said in an email.

On protests by residents against the first and second lines, Bhide said they have been given a hearing. “The Mumbai transformation support unit has come up with a suggestion to give higher FSI around the area of the upcoming metro stations. This should make those who wish to go in for redevelopment happy,” Bhide said.