MUTP 3 projects move at a snail’s pace due to land acquisition woes.

In yet another example of the slow pace at which infrastructure projects move in the city, less than Rs. 100 crore of the budgetary sanction of over Rs. 500 crore for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3 (MUTP 3) has been spent. Land acquisition for key projects remains the bottleneck.

The Ministry of Railways sanctioned Rs. 519 crore in last year’s Budget for the project, which is being executed by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC). Since the project was sanctioned, a major portion of the allocation has been spent on preliminary works such as surveys and initial designs for different projects under the MUTP 3.

At present, the MRVC is in the process of acquiring land for two projects under the MUTP 3: the quadrupling of lines between Virar and Dahanu and a new rail corridor between Panvel and Karjat. The former requires around 58 hectares of land, while 33 hectares need to be acquired for the latter. “We expect to begin the actual acquisition by next month. We may complete acquiring a sizeable portion of the required land for both projects by March,” a senior Railways official said. Railways officials expect to spend around Rs. 250 crore by the end of March.

In addition to land acquisition woes, the Railways’ plan to procure 47 air-conditioned rakes for the Mumbai suburban system under the MUTP 3 also face issues. The Integral Coach Factory, which is tasked with executing the project, had invited bids last year. However, it cancelled the tender in December last year and will soon be floating fresh bids. Senior officials said had things gone as per plan, there would have been a sizeable payout this year for the procurement as well, which is expected to cost Rs. 3,491 crore in total.

The Rs.10,947-crore MUTP 3 also includes a Rs. 551-crore project to control trespassing known as Mid-Section Trespass Control and a new suburban corridor between Airoli and Kalwa. The Railways has issued work orders for both projects with a new station called Digha on the Airoli-Kalwa corridor, which is expected to be completed by 2020.

THE  HINDU