337 km of Mumbai Metro by 2026 will play key role in reducing congestion, says MMRDA Commissioner

At present, MMRDA is implementing projects to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, around Rs 1.48 lakh crore of which includes mega projects like Mumbai trans harbor link. We have so many missing links where we are constructing flyovers and all and we are also working for the decongestion of the city at certain points like the latest BKC connector, which connects BKC to Sion Eastern Expressway and Kalanagar flyover. This connector by itself has reduced the time taken by people who were going from, say, Bandra area and BKC area to Thane and all by half an hour. All these connectors, and missing links which we are joining are certainly going to ease the traffic in Mumbai. At the same time, we are also constructing 337 km of Metro lines and out of that this year we expect to inaugurate two lines of 35 km each. After that almost every year we are delivering at least one Metro line up to 2026, by when we expect 337 km to be completed. Our studies suggest that congestion level is almost 97 per cent in different parts and average vehicle speed is not more than 10-12 km/hr in the city. All the work we are doing will create a public transport with a carrying capacity of 80 lakh or more which is almost the same as that of the present suburban train system. With the work that we have taken up we are sure that this will not only reduce congestion on roads but also on the suburban trains.

Sandeep Ashar: At present there are seven agencies working on the planning of the city. What is your view on having one planning agency rather than seven?

See, comprehensive transportation study in the city has been done only by MMRDA. It is not done by any other organisation and when we did the comprehensive transportation study we consulted all the stakeholders. The CTS gives you the gap between the demand and supply. This gap can be filled by any organisation. These agencies are not working at cross purpose. However, I don’t think any other organisation has got expertise in transportation apart from MMRDA. The transportation engineers are only there in MMRDA at present. The roads of BMC are managed by civil engineers, if you ask them how to design intersections, they cannot do it. The expertise of planning urban mobility is with MMRDA. Once we plan these projects, we are fine with any other organisation implementing it.

Zeeshan Shaikh: There seems to be a dissonance between how projects are visualised and how they turn up. Why is there such a drastic difference in the suggestions provided by these expert consultants and the actual implementation of the project?

Consultants draw up plans and for example tell us that say you should be constructing these 10 lines and the priority of building these lines should be in a particular way. However, you also need to understand that there is a political process of decision-making where you can take up another priority. However, it has never come to my notice that the suggestions made in the Comprehensive Transport Study have ever been disregarded. To the question about who decides the priority, it is the elected representatives. The whole decision-making process in a democratic system depends upon the checks and balances. In instances where we may have disregarded the consultants it may be because there may have been some demerit in what they were suggesting. It will be startling revelation if I say that Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in few of its reports have only done cut and paste job. Those sitting in MMRDA are not dumb. We scrutinise these reports, we challenge them, we ask them what you are doing and we say that this is not acceptable. Unfortunately professional integrity and honesty – it’s not uniformly distributed. I can show you examples where we have pointed out that DMRC is doing cut and paste reports.

Sandeep Ashar: This brings you to the question of interference of the political executives when it comes to planning a project.

We should not say state interference. They are the decision-makers. We live in a democratic set-up. We elect them to take decisions so it’s not interference. They are the final authority to take the decisions.

Zeeshan Shaikh: There is a perception that MMRDA has overleveraged itself when it comes to taking up so many infrastructure projects. Does MMRDA have a sound financial model in place which will ensure that the agency is in a position to finance infrastructure works for the next two-three decades?

The model that we have is to monetise the land that we have with us and through it fund infrastructure projects. This is how BKC was developed. We are presently engaging consultants to help us design E Block which has buildings constructed in the 70s which can go in for redevelopment. Providing a global FSI of 4 will help us get nearly Rs 10,000 crore from E Block alone. These are the steps that we are taking to ensure that MMRDA gets more money in the future as well. We are presently sitting on a land bank in Bandra and Wadala which is worth Rs 70,000-80,000 crore. We are also negotiating loan terms from agencies to fund our infra projects. I am also in discussion with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for monetising 70 per cent of my revenue income being generated from 7 and 2A Metro lines for 30 years concession period. This will bring us more money which can be pooled back for infra works.

Kavitha Iyer: How will this deal with CPPIB work?

So the proposal is that Canada Pension Fund has shown interest in monetising my fare and non-fare box revenue for next 30 years. They are ready to monetise and give me money upfront. So we are in discussion with them, so around say Rs 6,000 crore we are spending on line 7 and the same amount we are spending on line 2A. We can almost monetise Rs 6,000-8,000 crore. So we get that money upfront and for next 30 years whatever revenue will come will go to them.

Kavitha Iyer: When you have a non-governmental player who becomes a stakeholder in fares or any fare compensation then you are opening yourself to a new set of disputes. Do you agree or disagree?

No, we are not because if you promise that every year the fare will be increased or every two years or three years in the agreement itself than there should be no problem. The point is you need to enter into a very transparent agreement. Under the arrangement if the number of ridership goes beyond the expected number the revenue from those additional numbers will get transferred to the MMRDA.

Kavitha Iyer: Do you see any of these satellite towns such as Bhiwandi being genuinely as livable as Chembur or Ghatkopar?

It’s a big challenge, it’s a big challenge even for Mumbai to make it more livable, isn’t it? It is a very relative thing. In Bhiwandi more than 50 per cent people don’t pay property taxes. They don’t pay their electricity bills. At least in Mumbai, people pay property taxes, compliance is better off. This is two-way traffic. The income of local bodies comes from the people. If people do not pay taxes how will the municipal body serve you.

Sandeep Ashar: What’s the status on allowing aviation height restrictions over BKC?

We will have to follow whatever the aviation authority guys decide. There is, however, a proposal that if the radar’s position is changed or some modification is done in radar’s position then maybe some more height can be given. That was the conclusion of the International Civil Aviation Organisation study. So we have asked for that. The only condition is that the earlier buildings which have been given certain heights, they should not suffer because of that. We have written a letter to AAI to conduct this study on our behalf on the implications of this change which we are ready to fund.

Nirupama Subramanian: Is it a fallacy to assume that because you are building another system of public transportation you are going to reduce congestion? Because this was not the case in Delhi where transportation is still clogged. Are we making a wrong assumption that by 2026 the roads are going to be free and everything will be much better? Would you like to share your views on that?

Most of the people, even my colleagues sometimes think that whatever we are suggesting in MMRDA if that is realistic or only based on Theory. This decongestion is not going to happen on its own. It is going to be a very deliberate process It’s not unidimensional that you increase the public transport capacity and it will result in decongestion. We are constructing 337 km of Metro line by 2026, which will play a role in reducing congestion. We are also making multimodal integration and also trying to integrate motorised and non-motorised way of transportation outside every Metro station. This first and last mile connectivity is also going to help us in reducing congestion on the road.