The fifth and sixth railway line work between Kalva and Mumbra stations has gained pace after the court verdict gave the nod. The MRVC plans to build a flyover near old Parsik tunnel connecting Mumbra to Thane road.
The flyover, which would pass through the creek area and the mangroves, faced opposition from nature groups who took the matter to court. Since the verdict, about two weeks ago, was in support of the Railway authorities, work has begun in full speed.
The creek area will hold about 92 pillars out of which approximately 45 have already been erected while work is in progress for the remaining.
MRVC Director R S Khurana says, “Even before we received permission from court we were still working day and night for the remainder of the stretch leaving only the section from Parsik tunnel to Thane – Mumbra road overbridge work pending. Most likely by end of May 2019 we will complete the building of all the pillars and begin the rail track laying work”
This ADC correspondent visited the site and found that levelling work is completed and electrical poles are being installed along with the construction of pillars between Parsik to Mumbra stretch. Work is also in full swing at Mumbra station and the adjoining bridges.
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The foundation work between old Parsik tunnel and Mumbra is complete and excavation work is holding up some of the work of the remaining pillars, apart from factoring the upcoming rains and related water level rise during rains.
Anilkumar Patke, Public Relations Officer of MRVC, said, “Most likely by end of December 2019 we will start this route, the permission for work near the mangroves was received last month so the remaining work also will be started immediately. This work is very challenging for us”.
After completing the flyover bridge a new double fast train will start running and from the new flyover upto Mumbra there will be two slow lines, one up and down.
Mumbra presently has two platforms for fast trains, apart from which and two additional platforms will be made available for slow trains.
There will also be a changeover of track and signalling system at Thane, which will also require a mega block for installation, which will be completed by this year-end.
Siddhesh Desai, member, Mumbai Railway Pravasi Sangh, said, “According to MRVC, from year 2006 to 2016 the new tunnel has been facing slum encroachment, apart from a mafia issue, which is also why it lost its green cover and green belt. They worry that this will slowly create problems for the old tunnel also.”
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“The project of the tunnel and creek flyover will also pass from Nutan Bungalow but that is not going to be a problem,” Desai said, adding “Before this route starts we demand police patrolling and CCTV monitoring to deter mafias and other antisocial elements and also a nature watch kiosk to stop illegal sand mining, especially at the Kalwa-Mumbra stretch”.
The residents of Kalva took objection to the additional railway lines citing that it will add 30 to 45 minutes of waiting time with more people travelling in newly-added lines and also adversely affect the railway crossing. They demanded that the flyover must be completed before the new lines become functional. At present all the work pertaining to Railway premises is complete but the same is not the case for Thane Municipal premises which is incomplete,” added Siddesh Desai
Commuters from Diva, Mumbra and Kalva have an additional nine months wait ahead of them before the new lines open. Many lives have been lost till now due to the excessive rush hours during morning and evening.
Many commuters from Mumbra choose to travel to Dombivli and then to CSMT, and those at Kalva walk to Thane station to catch a train to CSMT. Some take a bus to Thane as at peak hours it is impossible for anybody to gain entry into the train, given the excessive amount of rush, and they are purely at the mercy of the passengers standing at the doors.
Diva too faces the same situation as residents travel till Dombivli and then to CSMT, which is why they have demanded that the additional lines between Thane to Karjat, Kasara, Khopoli to be built as soon as possible.