Shortage of labour delays Metro work by four months

Labourers at the construction site of Metro line 9, which is an extension of line 7. File pic

At a time when the lockdown has fast-tracked a number of construction activities across the city, it is the other way round for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). While they thought that work on the Dahisar-Andheri East and Dahisar-D N Nagar stretches of the Metro would be completed within its deadline of December 2020, shortage of labourers has delayed the project. Commissioning of both the corridors would now take another three to four months beyond the deadline.

After the lockdown was announced, work was stopped for a couple of weeks but then it was slowly started after that. Initially, MMRDA thought that the work would be completed within the deadline considering there was no traffic on the arterial roads but then the mass exodus of the labour force started affecting the infrastructure projects.

The MMRDA took to its official twitter account on Tuesday and said, "Mass exodus of the labour force has started adversely affecting infrastructure projects of @MMRDAOfficial. All project sites of MMRDA are facing problems due to lack of labourers."

Sources from the MMRDA told mid-day that the labourers have started to return to the city and soon all the work would pick up pace.

A senior MMRDA official said, "Due to the COVID-19 situation and lockdown, the pace of Metro work on the Dahisar-Andheri East and Dahisar-D N Nagar corridors have slowed down. Workers from neighbouring states returned to their hometowns, but slowly they are coming back. As per the original plan, both the corridors were going to be commissioned by December 2020 but now there will be a delay of three to four months."

Metro line 7

• The Andheri East-Dahisar East corridor is 16.475 km long. It has 13 stations.
• It will provide connectivity between the WEH, Western Railway, Metro Line 1 (Ghatkopar to Versova), the ongoing Metro Line 2A (Dahisar to D N Nagar) and the proposed Metro Line 6 (Swami Samarth Nagar to Vikhroli).
• It will facilitate smooth and efficient interchange with the suburban rail system and MRT system at Andheri, JVLR and Dahisar.
• It will also provide connectivity between Central Mumbai and northern suburban Mumbai
• It will provide rail connectivity to the Mumbai International Airport (CSIA), SEEPZ, National Park and other commercial and geographical landmarks.
• It will cut down travel time by about 50-77 per cent.

Metro line 2A

• The Dahisar-D N Nagar corridor is 18.589 km long. It has 17 stations
• It will provide connectivity between the WEH, Western Railway, Metro Line 1 (Ghatkopar to Versova), the ongoing Metro Lines 2B (D N Nagar to Mandale) and 7 (Andheri East to Dahisar East) and the proposed Metro
• Line 6 (Swami Samarth Nagar to Vikhroli)
• It will facilitate smooth and efficient interchange with the suburban rail system and MRT system at Dahisar and D N Nagar
• It will provide connectivity between western, central Mumbai and the northern suburban part of the city
• It will reduce the current travel time by 50-75 per cent.

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