Mumbai: Bandra-Kurla Complex jumbo told to pack up by September for bullet train terminus – Times of India

MUMBAI: The BMC has been asked to vacate the 4.2-hectare plot in Bandra-Kurla Complex earmarked for the bullet train terminus before September by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). It is currently being used for a Covid field hospital.
The fresh push for the terminus comes on the heels of the change in state government as the previous dispensation led by Uddhav Thackeray was seen as stonewalling on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor, considered a dream project of PM Narendra Modi.
The National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL) had floated tenders in 2019 for construction of the terminus but it was finally cancelled this February as the state government had failed to hand over the land.
The final approval for handing over the plot in BKC’s G block had been received on February 26, 2018, after it was decided to merge the terminus (underground) and the International Finance Service Centre (above it).
After the tenders were floated, NHSRCL had given about 11 extensions in anticipation of the land being handed over, but that did not happen. NHSRCL will now float fresh tenders after getting possession of land.
Metropolitan commissioner S V R Srinivas said: “The BMC had told us it would vacate the land by September but we have requested them to hand over possession as early as possible.”
Sources said BMC had postponed dismantling the jumbo centre, fearing a third wave. However, many in the railways feel it was an excuse to delay the project.
A Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) pump adjacent to the terminus plot needs to be shifted before work can begin, even that has not been done. This month BPCL has been asked twice to shift.
NHSRCL has designed the BKC station as an integrated structure to take the load of a 60m building above it. The tender for the BKC station was proposed to be floated in November 2018. But MMRDA said it wanted to raise the height of the IFSC building to 95m, which required a change in design.
The tender was finally issued on November 20, 2019. Due to Covid-19 and non-availability of the revised design, the date of opening of the tender was extended on several occasions between May 12 and August 31, 2020.