RailEnquiry

Activists are protesting the decision of the civic body and the state to have elevated metro calling it “detrimental to the city.” Professionals Party of India (PPI) has written to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to reconsider the decision taken about two months ago. The letter states that if the environmental and social cost of an elevated Metro were considered in the estimated cost, it would have made this option unattractive.The letter claims that the cost of land acquisition for the elevated Metro would be colossal, as majority of the routes would not be able to run across the median. Besides this, the elevated route requires a radius curve of 100 metres for turning, which would mean more land acquisition. The letter points out that the Vanaz-Ramwadi route, which is selected to be the first corridor, would see huge escalation in terms of land acquisition costs.Criticising the decision of granting a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 4 at a depth of 500 metres on either side of the corridor, the letter stated that it would result in additional burden on all civic infrastructure along the corridor.The letter also cites that elevated Metro mars the aesthetic beauty of the city and causes noise pollution. Compared to this, an underground Metro would hardly have land acquisition cost and would not inconvenience anyone, the reason why many cities in the world opt for underground Metro.