In the presence of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Narvekar, the Navi Mumbai metro system’s services were launched.

Mumbai: Woman train operator Aditi Padyar began the first run of Line 1 of Metro Navi Mumbai from Belapur to Pendhar at precisely 3 p.m. on Friday, to enthusiastic cheering and sloganeering from eager passengers.

“As one of the three female operators for the Navi Mumbai metro, I have completed several trial runs and months of intense training. I ran the Monorail for two years before this,” Padayar remarked.
Municipal Commissioner Rajesh Narvekar of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation presided over the launch of the metro’s services. Five-year-old Siya and her father Prasad Kadam were thrilled, as were most other commuters.

She had never traveled by train before since I could never consider putting her on a local train. It took us only thirty minutes to board from Pendhar and return from Belapur. The people of Kharghar and Taloja will greatly benefit from this eagerly anticipated project, according to Prasad.

Even though the Navi Mumbai metro was completed and opened to the public almost five months ahead of schedule, numerous other infrastructure projects that have the potential to significantly impact the lives of millions of Mumbaikars have been waiting months for their official opening. On October 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to unveil these projects along with the Navi Mumbai metro. However, a heat wave could occur, therefore the event was canceled. It was postponed till October 30 but was canceled once more.

The chief Congress spokesperson, Atul Londhe, chastised the state administration for attempting to use the infrastructure projects for political advantage.

“This government has invested hundreds of crores in image-building commercials. The state government has prevented the public from using these ready-made projects in order to appease certain persons by personally launching them. This is regrettable since, in Maharashtra’s 60 years, nothing like this has ever occurred. People will initiate these projects on their own initiative if the government does not, according to Londhe.

Aaditya Thackeray, the leader of the Shiv Sena (UBT), forcibly opened a lane on the recently constructed Deslie Road bridge on Thursday night; the city council has not yet officially opened it. “Various infrastructure projects which are ready to serve the public are waiting for the inauguration as ‘illegal’ chief minister Ekanth Shinde has no time,” he wrote to Governor Ramesh Bais on Friday.While most cities lack elected bodies, 11 out of 24 wards in Mumbai do not have full-time ward officers. Additionally, the government has not given BEST a new bus fleet. Thus, kindly get involved in the matter.

Project for Surya Water Supply

Since October, the plan to send water to the Vasai-Virar and Mira-Bhaindar areas from the Palghar district’s Surya dam has been ready. The dam will provide an extra 170 million litres of water per day (MLD) to the Vasai-Virar municipal corporation area and 218 MLD to the Mira-Bhaindar municipal corporation area.

Rajendra Gavit, the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) MP for Palghar, claimed to have informed the chief minister of the disturbances occurring in the two municipal regions.

Since the local MP was concerned about the unrest, I notified Chief Minister Shinde on the situation. Without waiting for a ceremonial inauguration celebration, he gave the go-ahead for the authorities to begin the water supply procedure,” said Gavit. He said that in order for the actual water supply to begin as soon as possible, officials had already begun carrying out technical inspections and maintenance tasks including cleaning.

25-year wait for a train link between Uran and Kharkopar

At a projected cost of ₹1,800 crore, work on the 26.7 km Nerul-Uran section on the harbor line began in 1996–1997. The Central Railway put the 12.4 km section between Nerul and Kharkopar into service in November 2018 after it was finished in 2018. However, the 14.2 km portion from Kharkopar to Uran remains uncommissioned five years later.

Stations like Gavhan, Ranjanpada, Nhava Sheva, and Dronagiri are located along this section. The state has been working on infrastructure in Uran, Nhava Sheva, and Dronagiri, and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will shortly connect the area to Mumbai.

In October, Central Railway officials examined the work being done on the Uran-Kharkopar line, and the necessary certificate was granted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety. The line was supposed to open during Diwali, but the delay in commissioning was ascribed to the PM’s unavailability.

“At the moment, we have to take a bus, which runs seldom, or drive or ride two-wheelers up to Kharkopar or Navi Mumbai in order to take a train to Mumbai or other places. It takes a lot of time and money, as one local resident named Deepak Patil put it.

Railway station in Digha

Phase I of the Airoli-Kalwa elevated rail route project includes the Digha railway station. Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is carrying out the ₹476 crore project as part of Mumbai Urban Transport Project III. Digha Railway Station took five years to complete, and it has been nearly seven months since construction was last said to be finished. Though Digha people can see that the railway station is finished, they say they have to trek to Thane or Airoli to board a train. Because of the planned IT corridor in Airoli, commuters can save money on last-mile connectivity as it is closer to Digha station.

Source- Hindustan times