Devendra Fadnavis: In three years, Mumbai will become an ideal city, even Shanghai will take note of its development
As the first tunnel of Mumbai’s Metro 3 line was completed near Terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Fadnavis said many infrastructure projects will change the face of the city in three years.
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Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. (File)
CHIEF MINISTER Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said that in the next three years, Mumbai will become an ideal city and even “Shanghai will take note of its development”.
As the first tunnel of Mumbai’s Metro 3 line was completed near Terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Fadnavis, who was present at the launch, said many infrastructure projects, including the new airport at Navi Mumbai, will change the face of the city in three years.
On Monday, Waingaga — the Tunnel Boring Machine that was commissioned on January 8 from Pali ground in Marol — completed its tunnel drive of 1.26 km at the Terminal 2 station. This marks the first tunnel of the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro-3 corridor that will connect business hubs, including MIDC and SEEPZ, which are not linked by the suburban railway.
The first tunnel breakthrough of package 7 of the Mumbai Metro 3 was inaugurated on Monday. (Express photo by Dilip Kagda)
Fadnavis said that the event marks a “breakthrough” for Mumbai. “We have faced many obstacles in completing this project but this work is a tribute to the efforts of engineers and workers who have toiled hard. It is also an answer to those who criticised the Metro work, claiming the project will always remain on paper. Work on the elevated Metro line 2B is going on in full swing and will be completed soon,” he added.
The Wainganga tunnel was drilled under the existing Metro 1 line and Sahar elevated road for 259 days.
Officials from the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering, the consortia partners for the construction of package 7 of the line that runs from Marol Naka to SEEPZ via MIDC, were present at the event.
Addressing them, Fadnavis said, “Earlier, our previous rulers used to say that Mumbai should become Shanghai… Our priorities have changed. We want Mumbai to remain Mumbai so much so that people of Shanghai should visit Mumbai and take note of its development. We must make Mumbai a city that is suitable to be lived in the 21st century.”
He added that Mumbai residents will receive an end-to-end connectivity through this Metro line. Projects, including integrated ticketing system, trans-harbor line, Bandra-Versova Link Road, coastal road and Navi Mumbai International Airport will change the face of Mumbai in the next two to three years, said the CM.
The Metro 3 line will be connected to the existing Versova-Ghatkopar Metro 1 line at Marol Naka and Samarth Nagar-Vikhroli Metro 6 corridor at SEEPZ.
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