90% citizens wanted underground Metros, reveals 2010 IIT-B study

With demands for underground Metros gathering steam, a 2010 study by the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay revealed that 90% of the citizens screened for the study wanted underground Metros in the city.

The study was undertaken on the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd route and sampled 1,070 citizens. Professor SL Dhingra, who undertook the study and is also a transport expert, said,“People had said that elevated Metros will lead to a lot of congestion on roads, increase travel time and pollution. Barricading will make travel difficult for seven to eight years. Also, after the construction, pillars will occupy a lane.”

There are 13 Metro lines planned for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region of which, only one is fully-underground — the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro-3 corridor. However, citizens in the western suburbs have demanded that the Metro-2B (DN Nagar to Mandale) be made underground. Of late, citizens of the eastern suburbs and neighbouring Thane have also demanded that Metro-4 (Wadala-Kasarvadavali) and Metro-6 (Swami Samarth Nagar-Vikhroli) be made underground. Work on all the corridors has already begun. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has maintained that the cost of an underground Metro is more than an elevated Metro. For Metro-4, MMRDA said, the cost will triple if the corridor is made underground. An MMRDA official said, “A lot of deliberations and studies were conducted before taking the decision on elevated corridors.”