The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) received formal approval from the state cabinet, to be handed over 33,000 sq feet of land at Dharavi, for ancillary activities for Mumbai Metro-3.
The Mumbai Metro Line-3 is a 33.5-km-long underground stretch connecting the busiest and most congested regions in Mumbai.
The metro line will connect the Cuffe Parade business district in the extreme south of the city to SEEPZ in the north-central part, with 26 underground and one at-grade station.
Line-3 will be the first underground metro line in Mumbai and will be one of the biggest underground continuous stretches in India.
Initially, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) handed over the plot to MMRCL for the construction of the Dharavi metro station, which is part of Metro Line-3.
The T-junction between Dharavi and the road bridge, which connects the slum to the Bandra-Kurla Complex, is the location of the underground station.
R Ramana, director of planning at MMRCL, stated, “We have constructed an electric substation on the plot and various other ancillaries. The land has been in our physical possession, but the formal handover required a cabinet decision. Hence, the matter was placed before the cabinet for its approval,” reports Times Of India.
With Dharavi set to be redeveloped as an integrated township, the metro station is considered a crucial public transport infrastructure for the area.
The Mumbai Metro Line-3 is currently under construction with 87 per cent of the work finished and is expected to be operationalised in parts, from the end of this year onwards.
The first phase of the project between BKC and SEEPZ is expected to be ready and open to the public by December of this year.