The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has resumed construction of Metro Line 7A, months after suspending work over a breach of height restrictions in the air funnel zone of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), even as it awaits final clearance from the Airports Authority of India (AAI), officials said.
“While the metro line’s height breaches the air funnel, it isn’t significant. A couple of buildings in the neighbourhood are slightly taller. A team from CSMIA had also visited the project site to assess potential safety risks. “The airport team informed us that they have installed an upgraded version of the Instrument Landing System.
Earlier this year, MMRDA officials had said they were facing a potential loss of around ₹ 250 crore if a relaxation from AAI, which they had been awaiting since January 2024, did not come through. MMRDA had secured a no-objection certificate (NOC) from AAI in March 2024. However, its engineers reportedly failed to account for the additional height clearance required for the overhead electrification (OHE) wires that power the trains, resulting in a 2.5-metre breach.
In fact, the trees alongside are taller than the structure we are constructing,” one of the officials said. In the last couple of months, MMRDA officials have met and spoken to their counterparts at CSMIA, AAI and the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said the official quoted earlier. Hence, it should not be an issue, and it will not infringe on the aircraft movements,” the official said.
Now, AAI has to formally decide whether to grant MMRDA a relaxation from height restrictions as a special case. Certain challenges have arisen in constructing the underground station at Terminal 2, but these are also being resolved, the official said. Another official in the know said that the 3.42-km route would take about another year and a half to be ready, which means March 2028 is the earliest passengers can expect operations to begin.
MMRDA officials told HT that Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), which operates CSMIA, sent a proposal to the central government outlining its views on the matter over a month ago.
