Metro I: displaced people threaten to move court

Sabharwal said,“The MMRDA is not bothered about citizens. They want to start the work without looking into the rehabilitation of people. Once the construction is complete,they’ll hand over the road to the BMC and escape.”

The MMRDA maintained that the agency plans to rehabilitate the displaced without “affecting” them. “We’ve been clear enough on the rehabilitation plans at the numerous meetings we had with the PAPs. As far as possible,we don’t want them to suffer and want them to be directly shifted to the Andheri market. But they will have to be temporarily shifted to another location,” said SP Khade,director of rail projects,MMRDA.

The BMC,meanwhile,will redevelop the Andheri market into a mall.

The construction of the 11.7-km Metro Rail corridor is in full swing now and work is about to start between Navrang Cinema and Dawood Baugh junction. The residents had earlier protested against the authority’s decision to start work on the entire stretch,which mandated the closure of traffic on the busy road that connects with the station area.

With elections round the corner,the PAPs are aware that any delay on the much-anticipated Versova-Ghatkopar Metro Rail corridor could land the government in an embarrassing situation. Meanwhile,the second Metro Rail corridor — the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd route — has found no bidders from private players even as the government remains undecided on the route as well as the financial model to build the Colaba-Bandra Metro corridor.