20 March,2014 08:43 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
While the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety is expected to inspect the VAG corridor soon, work on Jagruti Nagar station is still to be wrapped up
Ranjeet Jadhav
The Mumbai Metro is gearing up for a final safety inspection, but one of the stations on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor is yet to be finished.
The Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) is expected to inspect the line next week, before giving it a safety certificate, which would deem the Metro safe enough to be opened to the public.
There is no staircase leading up to or down from the station. The stretch of the Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road, which is supposed to connect to the LBS Marg, is also incomplete. Vehicles are illegally parked on the mud path. Pics/Shadab Khan
However, the Jagruti Nagar station is still not completely ready - the staircases are yet to be completed, there is no boundary wall on the top floor, and the 300-400 metres of the Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road connecting the station to the LBS Marg is not yet done. This means the station is virtually inaccessible to commuters. (See box for details)
Incomplete inspection
The CMRS will mostly have to inspect an incomplete corridor, as sources say the work won't be completed before next week. Mumbai Metro Rail Development Corporation (MMRDA) is awaiting a report from RDSO, the research wing of Indian Railway, after which the final safety inspection can begin.
A senior MMRDA official said, "I don't think many will use the station, as work on the westside staircases is pending. Plus, the road below is yet to be concretised." Commuters will either have to go to Ghatkopar or Asalpha stations to catch the Metro.
While saying the station was ready, sources said the delay was because MMRDA couldn't give the right of way to Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd (MMOPL), the body which is developing the line, to carry out work on the staircase and the connecting road. Besides this, all work at all other stations is complete and less than 1 per cent of the work remains.
Meanwhile, MMOPL has started proper trial runs on the entire line. The MMRDA official added, "From the last 3-4 days, MMRDA has started the trial runs every 4.5 minutes. The trains are halting at each of the stations and as of now, it doesn't seem there will be any problems once the actual operations begin."
