World Bank approves action plan for Mumbai Transport Project

Mumbai, Mar 30 (UNI) A month after suspending aid to the 945 million dollars Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has reiterated the bank's commitment to assisting India confront ''the tremendous challenges of its ambitious urban renewal vision''.

The Bank, which had provided a loan of 542 million dollars for the project, had suspended disbursements on the road and resettlement components of the project on March one, following complaints by those affected by the project.

However, Mr Wolfowitz has reiterated the Bank's commitment to the project at a meeting in Washington on Tuesday which discussed a report of the Bank's indpendent inspection panel.

The panel also had a close look at the implementation of the project by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA).

''The issues discussed need to be viewed against the background of the progress that India has made in a decentralised system of States that are individually larger than most countries in the world,'' Mr Wolfowitz said, hoping that ''the improvements we are making in this Bank-funded project in Mumbai can be useful for India in addressing the problems of urban poverty throughout the country.'' ''The flaws identified by the inspection panel should be addressed with urgency now,'' he added.

While accepting that transport development in a mega-city like Mumbai with its roughly 13 million inhabitants is a complex and long-term process, the Bank said the project was designed as a first and urgent step towards improving physical infrastructure in rail and road transportation.

The project envisaged resettlement of more than one lakh people to make way for infrastructure improvements. As many as 70,000 people, many of whom were among the city's poorest residents and lived on railways tracks in dangerous and squalid conditions, have been resettled, facilitating improvements to rail traffic, reducing commuting time for millions of middle and low-income rail passengers.

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