Should we keep wondering when the Mumbai Metro will commence? Or should we give it up as a bad dream?
by Jatin Sharma
I have wasted months of my life navigating traffic in this city. So have most of you.
It’s quite difficult to dream in a city that never sleeps. Mumbai has been time and again quoted as the city that never sleeps (although Dhoble made it turn in early and sleep). And dreaming in this city is a luxury that only the elite can afford. Most dreams that even Average Joes have in our films – the dream for a house in a posh locality, a swanky car (never mind the potholes), school admission in high profile schools, travelling to work hassle-free – have all become impossible dreams for most of us.
But one dream we dreamed a few years ago belonged to us and us alone. The Metro Project commenced in Mumbai in February 2008, with the promise that a commute of 90 minutes would be reduced to a mere 20 minutes for all of us. For the first time, we began to see that the city would soon look and behave like a bustling city should look and behave like. We waited with bated breath as the project progressed and years passed, dreaming of the time we would reach work quickly and be home as quickly to spend time with our families each evening.
But the dream is in tatters today, with no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Where is the Metro? Is it near completion? What does it speak of us as a city, the financial capital of India, that we still don’t have a Metro?
To put the delay in perspective, consider this: the Bengaluru Metro (namma Metro) too started work at about the same time as the Mumbai Metro, and even after a delay of 19 months, it started running in October 2011. Jaipur city had its trial run in a record two years, nine months and their Metro will be operational by March 2013. Delhi, of course, has its own Metro.
Yes, there was a trial run for the Metro in Mumbai. But for those who are hopeful of the Metro’s commencement based on this trial run, let me tell you that it was an eyewash. Do you 
know that that trial run happened without a railway safety certificate? No no, please don’t go looking for a wall to bang your head on. You can do that post you read this: Mumbai Metro started with a project of Rs. 2,356 crore, and now the estimated project cost has gone up to Rs. 4,321 crore. Now you can go looking for that wall.
All the delays first happened because several approvals and clearances were not in place. What is surprising is that the most beautiful dream of Mumbai has been delayed because there were certain unmapped utilities that were found underground. Although Mumbai has been known to have unmapped utilities, I am sure this isn’t the only city in the country to have those. The whole idea of the Metro was to ease congestion, but by the time it is truly operational, its presence would make no difference because the city would have grown manifold. Even now there are a number of offices and projects mushrooming around the Metro stages, with estate brokers telling clients, “The Metro is coming up, you better buy it now or the prices will touch the sky.”
Meanwhile, we sit and watch the work not in progress. These delays are costing us our money. My issue with the whole Metro fiasco is, that more often than not, the best technology is employed on projects here, and that is nothing less than we deserve. So what’s the problem? I was amazed when a staircase of the Metro gave way and killed a construction worker, and even that was not a big deal. Nothing connected to the Metro seems serious now, for a project that has been going its own way from the start. All most of us can see by way of the fabled Metro are concrete pillars over which, some day, the trains will run.
The only promptness we’ve seen on the Metro comes from politicians who periodically announce that the Metro would be operational this May 1 or August 15 or January 26 – they are really particular about these dates, like it’s some movie release. And as these dates do the rounds, we look up and see these pillars alone. So what is it? Is this project no longer relevant to the Government or are the end users not relevant? Come on, tell us. After being caught in massive traffic snarls over a project that is still not operational, we can take it.
Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else.
(Pictures courtesy www.deccanchronicle.com, www.mumbai-metro.com, www.thehindubusinessline.com)