Mumbai Metro-3 Likely To Be Completed By December 2021

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation is likely to complete the Metro-3 corridor (Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ) by December 2021 instead of early 2020.

The 33.5-kilometre underground metro is to be commissioned in two phases. Work on the first phase of the project will be completed by May 2021 while the remaining corridor will be completed by end of the year, Ashwini Bhide, managing director of MMRC said.

Metro-3 is a part of the 172-km metro network in Mumbai and its suburbs. The cost of the third line of metro alone is Rs 23,136 crore.

The project has faced numerous hurdles following opposition and petitions from environmental groups and citizens, including the Bombay High Court's order against the cutting of trees along the construction site earlier this year. More recently, the high court stayed for two weeks the tunnelling work near the heritage JN Petit Institute building in south Mumbai for the proposed Metro-3 line.

Bhide said the project will see cost overruns due to these unexpected delays. “The cost doesn't include delays that occurred in the initial days. So obviously there will be cost overruns but we will assess all of that once the system tenders re finalised,” she added.

MMRC claims that once the Metro-3 commences, it will reduce vehicular traffic by 35 percent, saving about 2.5 lakh litres of petrol every day. “The green benefits of the project are such that they would outweigh any temporary damage,” said Bhide.

The Mumbai Metro Line 3 has the capacity to carry about 17 lakh passengers per day as it traverses through areas that house major employment centres of the city, she added.