02 December,2012 01:41 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
Soon after MiD DAY published a report in July about the absence of lights underneath the 11.07-km-long Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor, which was putting pedestrians and motorists at risk, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) instructed the Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) to do the needful at the earliest.
Based on MMRDA's instructions, the MMOPL officials installed about a dozen halogen lights under each of the under-construction stations (âFinally, MMOPL lights up the way', September 21). But a recent inspection revealed that areas under several under-construction stations were still dark.
The inspection revealed that Airport Road Metro Station in Andheri (E), Maheshwar Temple Metro Station and Asalpha Metro Station in Ghatkopar lacked lighting arrangements, thus putting pedestrians and motorists at risk. What made matters worse were leaking pipelines near these stations, which left the road wet, making the spot accident-prone.
When contacted, an MMOPL official said, "We had installed lights along the entire corridor, but thieves stole them. We will ensure that locations with no lights are fitted with new ones as soon as possible."
Speaking to Sunday MiD DAY, MMRDA Joint Project Director Dilip Kawathkar said, "We had already instructed the MMOPL to see to it that lights are installed under all the upcoming stations so that pedestrians and motorists don't face problems. They had informed us that lights were installed. If lights are missing from under some stations, we will ensure that they are reinstalled, as safety is our priority."u00a0