30 November,2020 07:17 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B Aklekar
Before the pandemic, Ghatkopar suburban and Metro stations had been one of the busiest on the CR
Construction of the elevated Ghatkopar station deck that had been planned after a series of mid-day reports, and was pushed for by local Member of Parliament Manoj Kotak for over a year, will finally begin in a month's time. "I had a meeting with top railway officials of the Central Railway and the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) on Friday and the good news is that work on ground will finally begin at Ghatkopar next month," Kotak told mid-day. The deck and upgrade of Ghatkopar station is part of the Rs 950 crore project to upgrade 19 stations on the Mumbai suburban railway. It is part of the World Bank funded Mumbai Urban Transport project.
It was after mid-day highlighted in a front-paged report in its August 30, 2019 edition, 'Next Disaster Arriving on Platform No.1' on how Ghatkopar station had become a death trap, that union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, pushed by Kotak, had on September 13, 2019, directed railway officials to work on a Ghatkopar plan. Kotak said the congestion problem at Ghatkopar due to the Mumbai Metro station needed a permanent solution. He said the elevated deck and an upgraded Ghatkopar suburban station were the permanent solution.
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Before COVID, Ghatkopar suburban and Metro stations had been one of the busiest in the Central Railway corridors, and the facilities there had reached a breaking point. The concept plan includes a massive upgrade with three new 12-metre foot bridges, all linked by an elevated deck, an additional skywalk along the road and seamless connectivity for passenger movement. The Central Railway approved the drawings in November 2019.
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MRVC officials said they intended to use hi-tech European piling machines at Ghatkopar to speed up the work as lack of physical space for construction work was one of the key problems there.
"Most ministers in the Maharashtra government seem to be disconnected with the reality of railway services amid COVID. After a meeting with the railways on Friday, it has been revealed that local trains are running at 90 per cent of their strength and a decision to allow public to travel is up to the state government," Kotak also alleged.
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