MMRDA holds ₹568 crore Gorai-Pagoda-Metro 2A Ropeway project in Mumbai

Mumbai, India (Urban Transport News): The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has hold their dicision to implementing an urban ropeway project, connecting Gorai and Pagoda to the upcoming Mumbai Metro Line 2A (DN Nagar to Dahisar). The ropeway project has been kept on the back burner now, said an official.

In February 2020, MMRDA had floated a tender for the 7.2-km ropeway, planned from Mahavir Nagar Metro station to Pagoda and from Pagoda to Gorai, having eight stations. The project was expected to cost around Rs 568 crore. However, the MMRDA did not receive any response to its tender.

In August 2020, MMRDA had again issued a tender on Design, Finance, Build, Operate, and Transfer DFBOT Basis where two bidders submitetd their bids. It was proposed that a company from Saudi Arabia would be awarded the project. The company would also be allowed to run the ropeway system for 40 years. However, the tender was cancelled in March this year due to the project is not being financially viable. “The MMRDA was supposed to call for fresh tenders but the ropeway plan has now been kept on hold,” said the official.

“Nowhere in the world is a ropeway used as lastmile connectivity. It is more of a mode of transport for tourists,” said Advocate Godfrey Pimenta, an activist who runs a NGO in Mumbai. “Instead, we had suggested that Metro Line 9, which goes till Rai village (last station), should be extended further till Uttan Village via Gorai. This will provide direct connectivity to the Metro corridor,” he added.

MMRDA is the nodal agency for all elevated Metro corridors, including the ropeway project. At present, people have to take a ferry boat to reach Gorai and Pagoda.

According to MMRDA, the ropeway was expected to benefit tourists visiting Gorai beach and Essel World and would also have served as a feeder service for the Mumbai Metro 2A (Dahisar to D N Nagar) corridor. The ropeway sytem was expected to reduce one-and-a-half hours of travel time to 36 minutes.