Internet connectivity on Mumbai’s underground metro line held up
Internet connectivity on Mumbai’s underground metro line held up
It comes as a bad news for those riding Mumbai’s only Underground Metro line that the Internet connectivity has been held up due to a bickering amid the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) and the internet provider contracted to provide the service.
The delay has trigerred criticism, seen as a glaring oversight amid all the hype surrounding the metro corridor. Although the internet is available in the concourse area at all 27 metro stations on the Aqua Line, it blinks out as soon as you board a train.
This is quite a downer for the 1.8 lakh commuters who ride the 33.5-km Line 3, between Aarey JVLR and Cuffe Parade, every day. “The service provider appointed by MMRCL wants to lay their own fibre optic cables along the route, even though we have spent ₹100 crore on laying cables ourselves. As per a minister requesting anonymity they believe that using their own cables would reduce their operating costs. They hope to arrive at an understanding in the next few days,” The Minister was categorical that MMRCL would not concede to the demand.
Meanwhile, MMRCL is locked in a dialogue with the state government over the offices of political parties that had been shifted to make way for the Vidhan Bhavan metro station and route of the Aqua Line.
The offices had been relocated to Ballard Pier on the understanding that MMRCL would shift them back after work on Metro Line 3 was complete. However, MMRCL leased the 4.2-acre plot that had housed these offices, to the Reserve Bank of India, for ₹3472 crore last month.
The corporation is now passing the buck to the state government. “We have asked the government to find space in Nariman Point, to accommodate the political party offices. They could be accommodated in the tower being redeveloped by the BMC in the Fire Brigade building. We have agreed to pay for the move,” said an MMRCL official.
News Edit KV Raman
