Fadnavis says Army to build Elphinstone station footover bridge, sparks row

The foot overbridges will be built on Elphinstone Road of Western Railway, and Currey Road and Ambivali stations of the Central Railway

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday said the Army would build three footover bridges including the one at Elphinstone railway station where a stampede killed 23 people in September, sparking a political slugfest over soldiers being used in civil works.

The foot overbridges (FOBs) will be built on Elphinstone Station of Western Railway, and Currey Road and Ambivali stations of the Central Railway on the congested Mumbai suburban network.

"Given the Army engineers' expertise, they will construct the three foot overbridges by January 31. The Army has been very helpful to not just us but the society at large and I am very thankful to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for this huge help to bring ease in Mumbaikars' life," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told the media.

Sitharaman said: "The Indian Army has always been steadfast in the provision of aid for disaster relief issues. This is the first time when we are actually Army to help us in what essentially could be called civil work in the financial capital city of the country."A

Goyal said work on the bridges was expected to begin within 15 days, and in a later tweet, said it will be done by January 31, 2018.

Western Railway Divisional Railway Manager Mukul Jain had told IANS that the Elphinstone Road bridge will be a new one, independent of the one being planned and constructed by the railways, and be be located towards the Parel side at the northern end of the Elphinstone Road station.A

He said an Army team will identify the spot, submit its design and plans to the railways before proceeding with the work, adding that is the first time such a civilian contract would be handled by the Army. (more)

PM to lay foundation stone in October for Mumbai's two elevated railway corridors costing Rs 34,000 cr

PM to lay foundation stone in October for Mumbai's two elevated railway corridors costing Rs 34,000 cr

The foundation stone of two new commuter rail corridors, Churchgate to Virar and CST to Panvel, will be unveiled next month by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The former is a Rs 23,000-crore project. The latter is a Rs 11,000-crore one.

These two projects are part of the state government's ambitious plan of a little over Rs 1 lakh crore to strengthen Mumbai's transportation infrastructure.

Union railways minister Suresh Prabhu last week reviewed the status of the pre-project development exercise. He and state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had recently said investors from abroad have evinced interest in providing long-term low interest loans for these two corridors.

The 48.3-km one between CST and Panvel, along the existing central line, will be elevated for 31.6 km and run parallel to the existing lines for 12.4 km on the surface. Churchgate-Virar entails 63.3 km along the existing western line, approximately 42 km of elevated stretch, eight km underground and 12 km on grade.

A state government official confirmed that efforts are on to kickstart the project development by laying foundation stone in October. Both projects are expected to be completed in five years and will be implemented by a joint venture of the railways and the state government, through a Special Purpose Vehicle.(more)