It is way back in the late seventies that the MMRDA, then known as BMRDA initiated the Bombay Urban Transport Project (BUTP) with an aim to cater the transportation needs of the city through various improvements in city transport. The World Bank provided funding support to the BUTP, which had several project components, such as traffic and demand management to be achieved through (i) road and rail infrastructure improvement and (ii) reduction in flow of traffic. The project had an estimated investment outlay of about Rs. 6,433 crores, of which Rs. 4,250 crores were to be invested by the World Bank and the balance amount by the railways.
After the successful implementation of the BUTP, need was felt for a follow-up of the project sometime in mid-eighties, which was then welcomed by the World Bank. However, during the conceptualization stage itself, the project suffered from significant delays owing to reluctance of the Indian Railways to share the project cost as well as raise finances through proposed fare hike. Hurdles in procurement of technology, machinery and land precipitated the reluctance of the railways, which led to inter alia, institutional impasse.
Subsequently, the increasing vehicular traffic, congestion and associated pollution, and public as well as media pressure have led to initiating of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA). The MUTP project, estimated to cost about Rs. 4,554 crores, has several components: (i) systems improvement and network expansion of railways, (ii) traffic management, and (iii) road infrastructure improvement. An interesting feature of this project is the rehabilitation and resettlement of project-affected persons. The MUTP is to be implemented by the Government of Maharshtra and the Indian Railways jointly. The Maharashtra Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has been created as a joint venture of both in order to facilitate the unveiling of the project. Accordingly, an MoU has been signed by both of them to share the costs of railway projects equally.
As part of the comprehensive transport strategy for Mumbai,
Bombay First has also been advocating the take-up of large projects like the MUTP. Though this system promises to improve the existing public transport, it needs to be supplemented by traffic management measures. The World Bank team's recent visit aims to hasten the implementation of MUTP when it is in an advanced stage of appraisal. The implementation of this project will augur well for mitigating the transport constraints of Mumbai.
Prepared by
Ramakrishna Nallathiga