Land permits delay work in state, while Guj leads the way

MUMBAI:ABOUT a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for India’s first high-speed rail in September 2017, hardly any work has begun in Mumbai and other parts of the state. Meanwhile, preparatory work is being undertaken in full swing in Gujarat.

Of the 508.17-km long corridor, 155.76 km will be in Maharashtra, 348.04 km in Gujarat and 4.3 km in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) is in the process of acquiring land with the help of the state governments. NHSRCL has to acquire 1,434 hectares of land from 298 villages in Gujarat and 350 hectares from 104 villages in Maharashtra.

A joint measurement survey to finalise the alignment and land required has been completed in most villages in Thane district, but there is strong opposition in Palghar, said NHSRCL officers. About 109.06 km of the corridor will pass through Palghar.

NHRSCL has gotten possession of the required land in Bandra-kurla Complex, which will serve as the starting point in the city for the bullet train. Godrejowned land in Vikhroli has also been sought for the tunnel-boring machines, but the issue is pending in court. “Within two to three months, we will invite tenders for the shaft from where tunnel-boring machines will be lowered for digging tunnels at Vikhroli,” said Dhananjay Kumar, a spokesperson of Nhsrcl.meanwhile, NHSRCL has made considerable progress in Gujarat, especially Ahmedabad and Vadodara. The tendering process to develop a multi-storeyed hub on a 13-acre plot in Sabarmati is underway. NHRSCL has also begun work on the transplantation of fullgrown trees from a plot that will serve as the maintenance facility for the bullet train. Construction for a new container depot for Container Corporation Of India Limited (CONCOR) has begun at Khodiyar and construction of a training institute for train pilots has begun in Vadodara. While the project is set to be launched in 2023, the first stretch of the bullet train is expected to be inaugurated between Surat and Billimora by 2022. While work for construction of the proposed bullet train has taken off in Gujarat, but authorities face several roadblocks in Maharashtra. NHSRCL has to acquire 350 ha of land from 104 villages in state.

GUJARAT