Mumbai: PM for unified metro transport authority

Mumbai, Jun 21: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today suggested setting up of a unified metropolitan transport authority for Mumbai to enable a seamless and an efficient integration of all modes of transport in the metropolis.

Launching the ambitious Rs 19,500 crore Mumbai metro rail project, to be implemented in three phases, Dr Singh suggested that a unified transport authority was essential, given the wide variety of transport systems that will co-exist in this city. ''The Mumbai metro will be a landmark in the development of the city,'' he said.

He also expressed the need for new investment in world-class public infrastructure for cities. ''We have to invest in public transport - in roads, with space for bicycles and pedestrians, sanitation, public parks, water bodies, Air Force, railway stations and many other amenities of modern life,'' Dr Singh stressed.

''Our cities have to become more liveable and people-friendly and we have to take steps to enable people who work in the city, to be able to live away from it, thereby contributing in efforts to decongest. All this can be possible only with rapid public transport,'' he suggested.

As the population of a city grows, the importance of public transportation increases. In the absence of good, reliable and affordable public transport, private vehicles will dominate roads, leading to congestion, pollution, more accidents and of course more fuel consumption, he warned.

''We cannot force people to be dependent on costly private transportation. This will not only increase energy consumption, but also exert enormous burden on our ex-chequer. Public transportation has to be the focus of our urban transport policies,'' he expressed.

Stressing that urban governance was in need of reforms, the Prime Minister said municipal administration should be freed from the ''cancer of corruption'' and strangle-hold of land mafia. New innovative mechanisms must be explored to raise resources for efficient and equitable financing of municipal public services, he said.

''Unless people become more pro-active and participate in urban governance, reforms cannot be enforced from above,'' he added.

Dr Singh also urged the people of Mumbai, whom he described as ''enterprising,'' to set an example before the rest of the country and show how they can make the city more liveable.

He appreciated that last year, during the monsoons, people of Mumbai demonstrated to the country and the world their resolved determination, energy, spirit of cooperation and tolerance.

Dr Singh assured that the proposal of viability gap support of Rs 650 crore sought by the State government is being examined. The Prime Minister also called for reforms in urban governance and freeing municipal administration from the ''cancer of corruption'' and strangle-hold of land mafia. He urged people of Mumbai to set an example before the rest of the country by becoming pro-active and participating in urban governance.

''The State Government should come forward to make good use of the funds available under the National Urban Renewal Mission for five cities, including Mumbai, covered under the mission. The Government should plan a revamp of the urban landscape of these cities by securing all available assistance from the Centre,'' Dr Singh added.

On the occasion, Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy criticised the Maharashtra Government for not repealing the Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) Act, rationalising the rent control laws and reducing stamp duty. ''I cannot understand why they are not doing this. May be there is a mental block,'' he commented.

Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora also called for repealing the ULC Act, as more land will be available to the Government to construct housing for the poor.

Mumbai Congress president Gurudas Kamat, who was recently engaged in a spat with Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) Commissioner Dr T Chandrashekhar, criticised the time frame of completing the entire project. Earlier, Dr Chandrashekhar, in his brief presentation, said the phase-III of the project is proposed to be completed by 2021 and by 2031 over 11 lakh commuters would benefitt.

He called for expediting the construction of the project and completing it by at least 2015. Mr Kamat hoped that the first phase would be completed by 2009, before the Assembly elections.

''Maharashtra has enough representation in the Union Cabinet and when we go to seek the people's mandate we have to show that the Government has performed,'' he added.

''More than elections, we have to ensure that the project is completed at the earliest for the benefit of the people,'' Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said in his speech.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said the tenders for Colaba-Charkop section of the phase-one would be invited in six months. ''The work is in the final stages,'' he added.

He said Mumbai has seen other cities grow but has never complained. ''But, now our patience is running out. In the next two years, the civic body will launch Rs 6,500 crore worth of sewage and water supply schemes,'' he said and added that earlier the metro project is completed, more people would benefitt. ''If people benefitt, we, too, would also benefit,'' he said in an apparent reference to the 2007 civic polls and 2009 Assembly elections.

Maharashtra Governor S M Krishna, who was also present on the occasion, said with the metro project, Mumbai was at par with cities like New York, London and Tokyo.

He hoped that the people of the city would help in ensuring that cleanliness was maintained in metro trains.

The 146.5 km standard gauge Mumbai metro rail master plan worth Rs 19,525 crore will be executed in three phases. The construction of the fully elevated Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor will be executed through a special purpose vehicle formed by Mumbai Metro-I consortium, led by Reliance Energy Ltd and MMRDA.

The project will be implemented on a BOOT (build own operate transfer) basis through public-private partnership for a period of 35 years. The execution will start in October this year and will be completed by 2009.

The corridor will have 12 stations with modern ticketing and passenger facilities, lifts and escalators. The fare structure will be about 1.5 times of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply&Transport (BEST) fare, which will be affordable to the people.

Dr Chandrashekhar, in his presentation, said in the project Reliance Energy will have an equity share of Rs 353 crore (69 per cent), Connex - Rs 26 crore (five per cent) and MMRDA - Rs 134 crore (26 per cent).

UNI