Image source: DNA india
The Land Acquisition process for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train project which is alternatively known as MAHSR has reached near 100%, a major news agency has reported.
The NHSRCL which was formed as a ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’ to finance, construct and maintain the Bullet train project between Gujarat and Maharashtra has said that 99.75% of Land Acquisition is completed in Maharashtra while 98.91% Land Acquisition is completed in the state of Gujarat.
The data shared by NHSRCL also reports that 100% Land acquisition is completed in the union territory of Dadar and Nagar Haveli.
The Land Acquisition process which began five years ago faced many hurdles in Land Acquisition in the State of Maharashtra due to protests by farmers, environmentalists and various other stakeholders.
The process acquired pace when the Eknath Shinde led Government came to power in Maharashtra. While under Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena government only 75% of the land acquisition had been completed Gujarat had completed 98.5% of acquisition as of January 2022 as per reports released by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL).
As of now only small portions of Land are left to be acquired in both the states. In Maharashtra only 1.05 Hectares of land remains to be acquired in the regions of Palghar and Thane where the NHSRCL has paid Rs. 3217cr for acquiring land and in Gujarat only 10.53 hectares of land remains to be acquired where the NHSRCL has paid near to Rs. 6300cr for acquisition.
The first of its kind bullet train will run from Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex to Sabarmati Railway Station in Ahmedabad with a distance of 508km.
New stations for the train are constructed for the bullet trains and platforms construction has started. The tracks for the train will be elevated for most of the parts to save land.Â
Image source: NHSRCL
The Bullet train Project
The foundation for the Maharashtra-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project was laid by PM Narendra Modi along with his Japanese Counterpart Shinzo Abe in September 2017 at Sabarmati in Ahmedabad. MOUs for cooperation and technology sharing were signed between both the countries for the implementation of the project.
The project which is expected to be constructed at a cost of 1.60 lakh cr as per the latest estimates will be largely i.e. 81% will be financed by the JICA for a period of 50 years and the remaining cost will be borne by the State Govts of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
The project which was expected to be completed by 2024 and land acquisition of which was expected to be completed by the year 2018 has suffered significant delays primarily due to land acquisition in Maharashtra and also due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As of today the trial run of the bullet train in Gujarat is expected to be done in 2027 in a 357 km stretch.
The Mumbai Ahmedabad Bullet Train will be India’s first underwater train due to its 21 km underwater stretch in the Virar route. The train will cover 12 stations once operational with a total distance of 508km. With an expected speed of 300-350 km/hr the train will be India’s first high Speed rail.
