Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Express Photo By Amit Mehra
UNION DEFENCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday agreed in principle to permit construction work for the Mumbai’s underground Metro Rail — the 33.5 km-long Colaba-Bandra-Seepz line — underneath defence ministry owned lands in Colaba and Santacruz. Sitharaman, who was in Mumbai on Friday, okayed the state government’s request to permit the right of way for the Metro work on defence lands.
A small parcel of a land owned by the Navy in Colaba, and another small portion owned by the Air Force in Santacruz, fall in the alignment of the Metro corridor. “The Union minister has directed officials to grant working permissions for public infrastructure and utility projects,” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted later in the day.
Apart from Mumbai, the Union ministry has also agreed to provide easement rights for construction of the Pune Metro Rail. Further, the state government on Friday sought Sitharaman’s permission to conduct a mapping of slums encroaching defence lands in Mumbai. Sources said that the permission was granted. The defence authorities, meanwhile, have sought relocation of slums near the defence land in Colaba, sources added.