The satellite city has already begun planning for special corridors and has even roped in DMRC Even as Mumbai awaits its first Metro rail, its satellite city Navi Mumbai has already begun planning for metro rail corridors aiming for better connectivity. The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the nodal body for infrastructure development in Navi Mumbai, has appointed the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as consultants to lay rail corridors for Navi Mumbai. The DMRC is known for its efficiency and is responsible for laying metro rail network in the national capital. A metro corridor for Navi Mumbai was proposed following a comprehensive transportation study (CTS) conducted by Lea Associates for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).The master plan prepared by the consultants envisages seven metro rail corridors for Navi Mumbai. "The corridors proposed in the CTS will be put in place, but we are also exploring the possibility of other corridors for which DMRC is expected to submit its report by the December-end," said CIDCO's Vice Chairman and Managing Director G S Gill CIDCO. Meanwhile, to ensure an integrated metro rail service between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and CIDCO have decided to share costs. "The integration of routes will is to avoid any duplication. At a MMRDA meeting last month, it was decided it would share the cost of the project with CIDCO although the percentage is yet to be fixed," added MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad. Gill said Navi Mumbai is in the dire need of a metro rail project for better transportation in view of the proposed international airport near Kalamboli and the upcoming central business district in Belapur, which houses government as well as corporate houses. "The CTS has not done micro-planning, which is now being done by us. All routes will be automatically integrated. One of the proposed routes will link Mankhurd to Kharghar and go all the way to the proposed airport, Gill said. To build the corridors in Navi Mumbai, CIDCO is also looking at the option of build-operate-transfer model, though no final decision has been taken so far.
