With the state cabinet on Tuesday giving its nod to build a Metro line till Dahisar, the northernmost suburb of western Mumbai, demand for extending the services to neighbouring Bhayander has been gaining momentum.
Residents have taken to social media by signing petitions to bring the metro line to the Mira-Bhayander region.
The two parallel elevated metro routes_Dahisar-D N Nagar and Andheri (E)-Dahisar (E) have brought a ray of hope among residents who feel that extending the line till Bhayander will help decongest public transport in the western suburbs.
Shailesh Goyal, former member, National Railway Users Consultative Council finds Bhayander (east) the ideal location for the metro yard. “Both Dahisar east and west where metro yards are proposed are congested. There is ample open plot in Bhayander (east). It can be used for yard and in the process will benefit lakhs of commuters,” said Goyal, a Bhayander resident.
He said that the civic administration should submit a proposal to the state government chalking out how a metro line till Bhayander with benefit the region. “It will also ease the pressure on the suburban trains,” said Goyal.
Over 2000 people have signed the online petition #MetroForMiraBhayander. Residents said that large number of the population, including students, travel to the city. “Students will love a metro till Andheri. The overcrowded trains are a nightmare and travelling by road is not even as option,” said Shailaja Munde, a student from Mira Road who travels to college in Andheri.