Mumbai: The cancellation of the proposed National College Metro station on the elevated Dahisar East-Mandale Metro Line 2B corridor has sparked a fresh controversy with former Congress corporator Asif Zakaria alleging that the move was aimed at facilitating the monetisation of a prime railway plot in Bandra West.In a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Zakaria said Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (MMRDA) decision in Aug to scrap the Metro station was “arbitrary” and “against public interest”. He claimed the official reason — relocation of a BMC sewerage chamber — was only a pretext, and that the real motive was to clear hurdles for Indian Railways’ plan to redevelop its 5-6 acre staff quarters land.“Citizens and stakeholders strongly allege that the sewage chamber was used as a mere excuse. This amounts to prioritising real estate profits over public infrastructure,” Zakaria wrote, urging state govt to withdraw the stay order and restore the Metro station.MMRDA has not yet commented on the issue.The 5-6 acre plot, located next to the Western Railway tracks and the G7 multiplex in Bandra (W), houses 35-40 buildings of two to three storeys, the oldest dating back to 1955-57. Western Railway and the Rail Land Development Authority are expected to sign an MoU shortly for the land, after which the reserve price, lease tenure, floor space index, revenue-sharing model, and other terms will be finalised, said sources.The cancelled Metro station was to come up on Linking Road near National College, and cater to over 20,000 students from nearby institutions, besides easing traffic on the busy stretch.The original location was near WR colony, but as a 3.2-diameter sewage line posed a hindrance to the construction, MMRDA decided to shift the location near Tata Blocks. Residents then began a campaign to oppose this as they felt that it would impact Sadhu Vaswani garden. But since no other alternative was available, MMRDA decided to drop the station in 2023.The Bandra Tata Blocks Welfare Association had, in the past, questioned the manner in which MMRDA handled the matter. The association pointed out that in 2020, the station was shifted nearly 289m southward without any public consultation or notice to stakeholders. The group stressed that the original site would have better served commuters, especially students from nearby educational institutions.
