By 2020, Kharghar residents will have direct access to the Navi Mumbai airport. And transport systems such as the bus service, metro as well as potential projects like the Panvel-CSMT elevated corridor would make the suburb ideal to live in Kharghar has the advantage of an already well-built transport infrastructure, which is only expected to be enhanced with the Navi Mumbai metros, which are slated to provide connectivity from the old areas of the satellite city to the new, up and coming clusters like Taloja and Pendhar, thus making them ideal residential areas. In fact, a 24-hour exclusive railway line has been specially requested on the Diva-Panvel line that runs trains towards Mumbai from the Konkan region on weekends.
The metros that will be built in two major phases will run along Belapur, Kharghar, Taloja and finally Pendhar, while the second phase will see it run services through areas like MIDC Taloja-Kalamboli-Khandeshwar that are currently difficult to access and will culminate at the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA).
A CIDCO official says, “The earlier contractor was not doing the work on time; hence, we had to suspend his contract and a fresh tender has been awarded due to which we expect the work to be completed and the Metro to be up and running by April 2020.”
On the other hand, the Kharghar-Panvel stretch has good connectivity vis-à-vis the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) system that provides the commuters the expected time of arrival (ETA) of their bus at the stop. These transport systems combined with the fact that inter-connectivity within Navi Mumbai is one of the best due to the well thought out planning of the City Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) makes driving within the suburb a breeze.
Kharghar resident Deepti Khera, 29, a social worker says, “I think Kharghar is ideal to settle down in as it has one of the best schools and colleges – NIFT fashion school, and well-reputed schools have set up shop here making it one of the finest education hubs in Navi Mumbai.”
Combine this with other modes of transport that will be introduced in phases, thus making the Kharghar-Panvel section one of the best to live in. For example, the Chatrapatti Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Panvel elevated corridor by the railway with a stop located equidistant from Kharghar and Belapur and ending at Panvel station will be beneficial.
A railway official says, “We hope that the corridor will take you from the P D’Mello Road to Panvel in 51 minutes as the corridor will be elevated, airconditioned and will have zero interference from other trains crossing its path.”
This corridor will further align with the Mumbai Metropolitan Redevelopment Development Authority (MMRDA) 2B corridor that will overlap with the Harbour line railway station at Mankhurd, thus providing a convenient transfer point from MMRDA’s Metro to the railway’s corridor (it will have a separate line to the NMIA).
Source: Times of India
