Metro Networks, Concrete Roads: Mumbai Civic Chief Ashwini Bhide Shares Timeline At NDTV Yuva

The public transport system in Mumbai could improve in another two to three years and it could take an equal amount of time to ensure that the roads are free of potholes, Ashwini Bhide, the first woman municipal commissioner of the Maximum City told NDTV today. Speaking at the NDTV Yuva Manch, Bhide -- who successfully completed the Aqua Line, said there are plans to build 400 km of Metro line for the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Of this, a 100-km stretch is completed and another 100 km is under construction. The rest are in planning and tendering stage.

But all the metro work will be completed in another three to four years and the lines will connect with each other so that the traffic will shift from local trains to metro, she said. 

"Once all these metro lines are connected, the load on the suburban system will also decrease. Our estimate is that by 2041, suburban traffic will reduce to 45 to 50 lakh (down from 70 lakh), and metro traffic will increase," she said, pointing out that the metro network will have the capacity to carry almost 1 crore people.

"All these things will happen because we have been working for the past seven to eight years and we have delivered. So whatever work is remaining should be completed in the next two to three years, and through that, our transport experience is going to change substantially," she added.

About the infamously potholed roads of Mumbai, where accidents wait to happen every monsoon, Bhide said of the 2100-km road network, so far 1,900 km has been concretised. Concretising the rest will effectively address the pothole issue. 

"Wherever roads have been concretized, potholes do not occur. We have been observing this for the past two to three years," she said. 

"Now, the remaining 300 kilometers and some old roads that were concretised but whose side strips were not done, we are planning to take them up as Phase 3. That is a work of around 1 to 2 years," she said.

"Once that is completed and the entire road network is concretised, the pothole issue will also be fully controlled," she added.