The government has removed all the hurdles in the construction of Metro-5 corridor. The government has approved the proposal of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to have an underground route instead of an elevated route under the second phase of the corridor. The MMRDA proposal has got government approval on Tuesday. The way has been cleared for the construction of the metro route stuck between Bhiwandi and Kalyan for four years. The Metro-5 corridor between Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan was to be constructed in two phases. In September 2019, under the first phase, the construction work of Metro between Thane to Bhiwandi started. At present, the metro route between Thane-Bhiwandi has been completed up to 70 percent. Whereas, due to the opposition of the local people regarding the Metro route, the construction work of Metro under Phase-2 has not yet started.
To put an end to the protest, the MMRDA instead of taking the metro from above the ground on the objected route of the metro, constructed the underground. It was decided to send a proposal to the government to make the metro from Dhamankar Naka to Temghar underground instead of the elevated route.
After getting approval from the government, the route of about 3 km between Bhiwandi and Kalyan will be underground, while the remaining route will be elevated. According to a senior MMRDA official, the cost of the project will now go up due to the construction of an underground passage on the corridor.
