By Apurva Bhatt
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) may give up their plan not to construct Girgaum and Kalbadevi stations if protests by residents continues. Remarks an official from MMRC, “We are trying our best to convince the locals, however if they do not understand than we will have to drop our plan to construct these two stations.”
Residents of Girgaum area and Shiv Sena members staged a ‘rasta roko’ protest on Wednesday against the probable eviction of locals who will get affected by the construction of the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro corridor. The protest was held at Jagannath Shanker Seth Road, affecting traffic movement for close to half an hour. "We are unaware which buildings would be demolished and where the families occupying them would be shifted. There is no clarity on the subject," said Arvind Nerkar, local Shiv Sena leader and former MLA.
According to the locals, they are presently living with uncertainty because, though they know that the Metro would be underground, they are unaware which buildings will be affected or demolished. About 26 buildings in Kalbadevi, Chirabazar and Girgaum areas will be demolished permanently to create free space for ventilation shafts and entry-exit points for underground metro stations.
