Decks cleared for ₹8,417-cr Metro 5 line in Mumbai

The Maharashtra State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has granted coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearance to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority's (MMRDA) Metro-5 line, which will connect Thane to Kalyan. This paved way for the 25-km fully-elevated corridor connecting Thane's Balkum Naka to Kalyan APMC via the power-loom town of Bhiwandi with 17 stations. Currently, the areas are connected only via the overcrowded suburban rail network. The cost of the project is ₹8,417 crore, with an expected ridership of about three lakh commuters each day by 2031. As per the MMRDA's proposal, the Metro alignment will pass through two water bodies at Kasheli Bridge in Thane and Durgadi Fort in Kalyan. In Thane, the alignment will cut through a CRZ-I notified area for just over a km near Kasheli Bridge, while another 1.5-km will pass through a CRZ-II area. Another 608m of the alignment is passing through the Ulhas river and in Kalyan, about 20m of the alignment will pass through a CRZ-I notified area, while 250m through a CRZ-III notified area and another 320m will pass through the Ulhas river. With this clearance, the MMRDA now has the permission to build 156 piers (each being 1.8m in diameters) in CRZ-notified areas to support the above-ground corridor, which will be integrated with the Metro-4 line at Kapurbawadi, and also with the suburban rail at Kalyan station.