MMRDA will be transport planner too

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Maharashtra’s top infrastructure planning and construction agency, has decided to take on the role of transport planning as well. A core committee headed by the principal secretary of the urban development department of the state has proposed to merge the United Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMMTA) with the MMRDA since the functions of infrastructure planning and transport planning are closely linked with each other. One of the suggestions made by UMMTA but not yet implemented till now has been to have a common smart card for Mumbai which could be used for all modes of transport – railways, metro rail, monorail and BEST buses.

The committee has also recommended separate traffic and transport divisions for all municipal corporations in the state – on the lines of the BMC which is currently the only municipal corporation to have such a division. MMRDA would train officials for these divisions, which in course of time, would be staffed by transportation engineers. The core committee has also asked all the government infrastructure agencies to provide a list of transport infrastructure projects undertaken in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.