Congress dubs Mumbai projects' inauguration by PM Modi a sham

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday slammed the BJP-led government in Maharashtra and described Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mumbai on Saturday to inaugurate a slew of infrastructure projects as ‘a publicity stunt’.

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam on Friday alleged that many of the projects that Modi will inaugurate are either stuck because of finances while the tendering process is not completed in some others.

“For both the Metro 2 B (DN Nagar to Bandra-Mankhurd) as well as the Metro 4 (Wadala-Kasarwadavalli) projects, there’s no clarity on the amount of funding. The MMRDA has allocated only a few hundred crores when both the projects require thousands of crores,” said Nirupam.

He said even the funding for the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link ( MTHL), another project which the PM will inaugurate on Saturday, is facing funding problems.

“Japan International Cooperation Agency ( JICA) was supposed to fund the project, but they are not releasing the funds because they have serious environmental concerns on the project,” claimed Nirupam. He alleged that the Panvel-Karjat, Airoli-Kalwa and the quadrupling of the Virar-Dahanu railway lines will take a long time, according to railway officials’ estimates.

“The PM will inaugurate these projects tomorrow, but the railways are still figuring out how to issue the tenders -- even the tendering process may take a year,” said Nirupam. The Congress leader alleged that Modi and the state government are inaugurating the projects with an eye on Mumbai civic elections.