The construction of the project of 33 km long underground metro line from Mumbai’s southern tip of Colaba to SEEPZ in Andheri is likely to start in January next year, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) said.
The Mumbai Metro is currently doing test runs for its first segment from Versova on the western side to Ghatkopar on the East. The second phase will be from Charkop near Kandivali on the Western line to Mankurd in the East (near Ghatkopar) via Bandra. The dates for the second phase are yet to be finalized.
MMRCL, however, said dates for the third phase have been largely finalized. It will issue detailed tenders for Metro-3 by July 2014 and award the contract to the successful bidder by October 2014.
“Pre-qualification bids for the first underground metro in the country’s financial capital have evoked good response from all the consortiums showing great interest in Mumbai’s first underground metro. Presently we feel that the detailed tenders can be issued by July 2014”, said Mr.Sanjay Sethi, Managing Director, MMRCL and Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA. The MMRCL is also confident of awarding contract by October, 2014 for the project to be undertaken on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis.
“We have tied up the funding for this project from Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), Government of India and Government of Maharashtra through MMRDA”, said Sethi.
JICA will be funding 57% of the total project cost of Rs.23,136 crore. “The Government of India and Government of Maharashtra-through MMRDA will be bear the rest of the cost. The GoI will be provide 50% of Central Taxes as Sub-debt while the balance 50% shall be borne by the State Government. The GoM may also get a few exemptions from various local taxes – details of which are being worked out at present”, informed Mr. Sethi.
He further added that Rs.777 crore will also be borne by the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), since the metro will pass through the MIAL areas.
The Colaba-Seepz metro will comprise of 27 stations; out of which 26 will be underground and one at Aarey Colony, Goregaon, will be at grade (ground level). Underground construction will be at a depth of 15 to 25 meters on an average. The construction of 32.5 km Metro will be carried out in 7 packages at 14 different locations.
“The state government has also given permission to acquire 30 hectare land in Aarey Colony, Goregaon for Car Depot. There will not be permanent acquisition of private lands of more than four hectares. However, temporary acquisition may be needed for casting yard and other construction purposes,” said Mr. Sethi.
The project will see state-of-the-art technology in underground tunneling, used for the first time in an infrastructure project in Mumbai. While the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) technology will be used for the Metro Tunnels, the construction of stations will be either cut & cover method or NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method) as per site requirements,” added Mr. Sethi.
The Colaba-SEEPZ Metro-3 corridor is expected to carry 39,000 commuters per hour per direction (13.9 Lakh commuters daily) in the year 2021 and 42,000 commuters per hour per direction (17 Lakh commuters daily) in the year 2031.
The 14 firms that responded to the pre-qualification bids invited by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) are – AFCONS-KMB, CEC-ITDCEM-TPL, CTCEG-PIIPL, Dogus-Soma, IL & FS-CR25G, J.Kumar- CRTG, L&T-STEC, MOSMETROSTROY-HCC, OHL-SKE&C, Pratibha-GDYT Consortium, Sacyr CMC ESSAR, Salin Impregilo-Gammon, STRABAG-AG-Patel and UNITY-IVRCL-CTG.
The 27 stations on the Colaba-SEEPZ Metro corridor are – Cuffe Parade, Vidhan Bhavan, Churchgate, Hutatma Chowk, CST Metro, Kalbadevi, Girgaon, Grant Road, Mumbai Central, Mahalaxmi Metro, Science Museum, Acharya Atre Chowk, Worli, Siddhi Vinayak, Dadar Metro, Shitaladevi Temple, Dharavi, BKC Metro, Vidya Nagari, Santacruz, Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport (Domestic), Sahar Road, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Marol Naka, MIDC, SEEPZ and Aarey Colony.