Mumbai: Work restarts on Kurla subway after 7 years

Railway authorities are finally giving “finishing touches”to the Kurla subway connecting east and west under the railway tracks. The almost-ready project had been stuck for more than seven years.“Finally things are moving and we thank DNA for the sustained campaign,” said Jitendra Gupta, a member of the Citizens’ Transport Committee.The subway will be open only to pedestrians and not vehicles, a site engineer said, adding that it may be operational next year.In November 2010, DNA had highlighted the issue of the delayed Kurla subway project after which mayor Shraddha Jadhav had called for a joint meeting with railways and civic officials to resolve the matter.But, the matter again got stuck in red tape. The Rs7-crore Kurla subway, built under the railway tracks in 2005, is a case of bad coordination between public utilities - the civic body and railways.The municipal corporation had refused permission to open the subway, which was 70% complete, after a feasibility study by Veermata Jijabai Technical Institute in 2006 found that the project was “not practical”.The vehicular subway subsequently became a drain, even as Kurla topped in track-crossing deaths in the city.Central Railway statistics show that while 331 trespassers died at Kurla in 2008, 286 died in 2009. Around 250 people died in Kurla while crossing tracks in 2010 too.On December 12, DNA had also reported about how Kurla station — a crucial station on both Central and Harbour local train networks — has become a hub of incomplete projects and local MP Priya Dutt has promised to improve and upgrade the station. When told on Thursday that the work on the Kurla subway has restarted, Dutt replied that it was a “great development.”Congratulating the railways, Subhash Gupta, Kurla resident and former member of the National Railway Users’ Consultative Committee, said:“It is high time. Commuters had been suffering at Kurla.”