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Elevated rail corridors a mirage for Mumbai commuters: Naik

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Press Trust of India Mumbai
Last Updated : Jan 20 2013 | 5:29 AM IST

Railways should instead concentrate on finishing the pending projects on war footing and publish a white paper on suburban projects, Naik said, talking to reporters.

He had sought appointment with the Railway Minister C P Joshi to brief him about demands of Mumbai suburban commuters, the BJP leader said.

"The last week saw several contradictory reports on elevated corridors of the suburban railway. While one report stated that Prime Minister's Office has approved the Rs 18,000 crore project of elevated corridor of Western Railway from Churchgate to Virar, the other claimed that Railway Board rejected the Rs 32,000 crore project of the Central Railway, from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Kalyan," he said.

A public debate was needed on the issue, he said.

"The State Government, through MMRDA (a Mumbai planning body), is executing two metro rail projects. The first project, the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar line, for which the foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 21, 2006, is not only incomplete, but has also seen five major accidents, as a result of which it is difficult now to know when it will be completed," Naik said.

"For the second one, Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd line, the foundation stone was laid by the then President Pratibha Patil on August 18, 2009. But the ground work is yet to begin. Against this background, the elevated corridors project looks like a mirage," the BJP leader said.

  

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First Published: Sep 24 2012 | 8:05 PM IST

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