Mumbai: Ghatkopar station decongestion plan stuck on drawing board

MRVC is working on the final design of the structural changes

Six months on, the railways have not been able to decongest the dangerous Ghatkopar station, which records a footfall of 3.87 lakh people every day, one of the highest along CR. The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) Ltd is still working on the final design and no one knows if it is anywhere close to completion.

mid-day had highlighted the issue in its front-page report on August 30 last year, following which Union minister Piyush Goyal had ordered the officials to take immediate action.

Local MP Manoj Kotak, who had taken up the matter with Goyal citing the mid-day report, had said, "Ghatkopar will get... long-term solutions within a month." Accordingly, Central Railway (CR) planned a massive upgrade, including three new 12-metre footbridges, all linked by an elevated deck, an additional skywalk along the road. However, the railways is going round in circles to complete the paperwork to make commuting via the station seamless.

In November, CR had approved the first set of drawings by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) Ltd. Three months have passed since and the MRVC is still working on the detailed drawings, which will then be sent to CR and the Commissioner of Rail Safety (CRS) for a final green signal.

Meanwhile, the MRVC
has sent a proposal to use micro piling machines. An MRVC official said space to carry out the construction work is minimal so they require micro piling machines that can work within limited headroom.

"For this, we have approached Central Railway and Commissioner of Rail Safety for permissions," a top MRVC official told mid-day.

Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Shivaji Sutar also told mid-day, "The MRVC has recently submitted European code for design of micro piles and it is under examination."

However, no one from the railways has been able to give a specific time frame for the project to take off. The MRVC official assured that the decongestion work at the station would be completed within 12 months of getting all the approvals, but wasn't sure when the detailed drawings would be ready.

Construction work to decongest the Ghatkopar station will take 12 months after the design has been approved

A spokesperson of the MVRC said, "We shall begin work on the ground once all the relevant sanctions are in place."

Passenger associations have also complained about the slow pace of the railways in the commencement of the project.

"The MRVC is notorious for slow pace of projects and endless delays. Since the project involves an important place like Ghatkopar where there is an urgent need for improvement, we are worried about the way the MRVC is handling it. It is pertinent to build pressure on it," said Subhash Gupta, a Kurla resident who is also a member of the National Railway Users Consultative Council.

"If the thick-skinned railway officials do not follow Railway Minister Piyush Goyal's directives, god save the railways," a local BJP functionary, who has been keenly following the project, said.

1.93 lakh
Approx number of commuters every day

1 year
Time needed to complete the work

The proposed changes

12-metre-wide foot overbridge (FOB) at Kalyan-end to replace existing 4-metre-wide FOB

12-metre FOB in the middle at north end

12-metre FOB at CSMT-end to replace existing 4-metre-wide FOB

7.5-metre-wide elevated deck connecting Metro station and all FOBs

Staircase and ramps connecting Metro station

Skywalk on road connecting Metro station

6-metre-wide connection to the existing BMC skywalk

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