Railway authorities admitted on Saturday that political interference and encroachments were to be blamed for key railway projects being stalled, eventually leading to commuter ire spilling onto tracks. “If projects had been completed in a timely manner in 2014, such incidents would not have occurred. Commuters started pelting stones when they saw that trains coming from Thane were not stopping at Diva station. People could not understand that the work of a fifth and sixth line between Thane and Diva stations could not be completed due to pressure from political leaders. Files could not move in time and there were problems associated with rehabilitation of slum dwellers,” an official said. The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation started working on 11 different projects under MUTP-II in 2008-09. Not only have these projects been delayed, they have incurred tremendous hike in cost too. Cost of these projects, which were around Rs 5,300 crore in 2008-2009, has escalated to Rs 7,006.53 crore. Meanwhile, MP Kirit Somaiya met R D Tripathi, Additional General Manager of CR, and Mukesh Nigam, Divisional Railway Manager, to discuss the issue with him. He told mediaperson, “Work of fifth and sixth lines between Thane and Diva has started now. After the completion of this work, most of the problems of commuters of Diva, Kalwa, Thakurli and other station will be solved.”
