The nodal agency for the already delayed project, the MMRDA will simply have to drop some projects for whose execution there is “no money available”. Talks are currently on between the MMRDA and a World Bank team in the city to assess the situation.
Joint Metropolitan Commissioner and Project Director for MUTP Milind Mhaiskar said: “When the World Bank sanctioned the loan in 2002, the value of the dollar was Rs 48, which has now slipped drastically to Rs 39.” That means, the $ 542 million loan was equivalent to Rs 2,600 crore in 2002, but is now equivalent to Rs 2,300 crore only. “There is a deficit of Rs 300 crore only because of the dollar depreciation,” Mhaiskar explained.
No decision has been taken on which components to drop. “Even if we want to execute all the projects in MUTP, the World Bank commitment is in dollar terms. They (the bank) cannot take the fluctuation of the dollar into account. There is no alternative but to delete projects worth Rs 300 crore.” Mhaiskar stated. “This is an intricate issue.”
Meanwhile, the MMRDA is also discussing with the World Bank team the possibility of delinking from MUTP two road overbridges (ROBs) to be constructed across the railway tracks at Jogeshwari.
Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak confirmed that the Brihanmumbai Municipal commissioner (BMC) will execute the ROBs’ construction once removed from the scope of the MUTP. “MMRDA will fund it,” Phatak said. The ROB at Jogeshwari’s northern end was estimated to cost Rs 80 crore while the one at the southern end was to cost Rs 54 crore.
The other project most likely to be delinked is the Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme (SATIS), a grand plan to decongest areas outside four suburban railway stations and to provide commuters easy entry and exit points. The World Bank mission currently in the city to review and restructure the MUTP will take a decision on this too.
For SATIS and the ROBs, this will be another in a series of setbacks since MUTP was first launched. A senior BMC official said on condition of anonymity: “The work on the Jogeshwari ROBs started in 2002, but the MMRDA is still relocating the project affect-ed persons.” While the much-hyped SATIS was delayed first due to a cost-sharing disagreement between the BMC and the Railways, later disputes included disagreements on the general agreement drawings (GADs), which finally led the BMC to opt out of the project.
According to a senior MMRDA official, it is almost certain that various incomplete road components will be dropped from MUTP. “The Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road and the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road are the only road projects that will be completed with World Bank money. And apart from the subway at the Metro Cinema junction (under the Pedestrian Grade Separation Scheme, also delinked from MUTP) and the Area Traffic Control system, practically all other road components are getting dropped,” the official said.
swapnil.rawal@expressindia.com