Aviation authorities okay Metro 2B through airport funnel area

The MMRDA had earlier written to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) seeking clearance to construct the metro line in the funnel area of the airport. They had proposed it to the civil aviation department, which has now cleared it. The 23.5-km Metro 2B corridor connecting DN Nagar-Bandra-Mankhurd will run along the Juhu aerodrome. To prevent any hindrance to flight operations, the MMRDA proposes to keep the height lower on the stretch near the airport.

“While the average height of the Metro along the entire corridor will be around 23 metre, it will be lowered to 16.76 metre in the airport funnel area. Lowering the height will pose some challenges. There will be more tension in the overhead wires due to the lowered height and more maintenance will be needed,” said a senior engineer working on the project.

The MMRDA has appointed Simplex Infrastructure to design and construct the first phase of the corridor, a 12-km stretch from DN Nagar to BKC, and will soon finalise the contractor for the second phase. According to officials, the work on the corridor is likely to begin by next month. “We will soon award the contract for construction and should be able to begin construction by the end of next month,” said the engineer.