MMRDA scraps WEH elevated BRTS Corridor project for Andheri-Dahisar Metro Rail

MMRDA scraps WEH elevated BRTS Corridor project for Andheri-Dahisar Metro Rail

Mumbai: Just over two months after the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) restarted plans for having a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) on Western Express Highway (WEH), it has been kept aside once again. This time, it is for making room for an elevated Andheri-Dahisar metro rail.

UPS Madan, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA confirmed this, saying: “We will have to keep BRTS on hold till a decision on the metro is taken.”

In fact, the development authority has also issued a notice for termination of bidding process for appointment of consultants for the BRTS. The agency had invited bids for planning, detailed design, engineering and bid process management so that the elevated corridor can be implemented on the highway between Bandra and Dahisar.

It will take a few months for the MMRDA to update the detailed project report (DPR) for the 18-km long Andheri-Dahisar metro rail. At the moment, it is uncertain when the elevated bus system project will be revived, but it will take a minimum of 4-6 months to decide the permanent fare of BRTS, if the project will be implemented in the coming years or will be give a permanent burial for WEH.

This metro rail project is proposed along the WEH, terminating just close to the existing metro rail corridor for an integrated transport, and therefore, both projects will overlap or clash.

This is not the first time the BRTS has been put aside by the authorities for other projects. Back in 2010, after doing a detailed study, MMRDA had decided not to go ahead with the project. Thereafter, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Corporation (BEST) was contemplating if it should go ahead with the project.

In December 2008, a pre-feasibility report done through Consulting Engineering Services had mentioned an elevated BRTS as the best option for Mumbai. The report had pegged the project cost for BRTS on WEH and Eastern Express Highway at Rs800.35 crore for having an elevated road and a fleet of 852 buses with 9 bus depots. Only for western corridor, the total project cost was estimated at Rs552.50 crore including bus procurement.

As per the present scenario, the officials estimate project cost to be around Rs70 crore per km for civil structures. Therefore, the overall project cost is likely to be at Rs.2,000 crore for three lanes and bus purchase. The likely turnouts will be at Dahisar, Andheri and Bandra, among other places.