authority mmrda has appointed reliance infrastructure rinfra to execute the rs 8250crore project which will have 27 stations along a 32km route however the government decided on an elevated line because it would be twoandahalf times cheaper than going underground financial institutions were ready to fund an underground line but a state government official said the elevated metro is the best option reservations for schools markets recreation grounds and playgrounds wont have to be deleted to make space for rail yards it is much cheaper and therefore in the public interest under the present circumstances it is almost impossible to get these permissions from over a dozen authorities a government source conceded an underground metro despite costing phenomenally more would allow us to plan and expand a network for the next 100 years mumbai fears persist over the widespread disruption the metroii elevated project could cause to the economic and social life of people residing in some of the most congested areas of the western suburbs no environmental issues elevated elevated line estimated to be about twoandahalftimes cheaper to build hegde said metro pillars in the middle of congested roads will cause traffic chaos the 32km route passes through the middle of arterial roads like link road marve road to jay prakash road in andheri 10th road in jvpd scheme s v road at vile parle and santa cruz and linking road at santa cruz khar and bandra furthermore traffic jams will increase due to the pillars that will be installed for the corridor according to a plan drawn up by architect nitin killawala for the jvpd association these spaces are lokhandwala gardens andheri kaifi azmi park juhu pushpa narsee park jvpd podar grounds santa cruz patwardhan garden bandra and mmrda grounds bkc there is a perception that an underground metro line would be costlier and more time consuming to build said architect nitin killawala who prepared the report an mmrda official added constructing an elevated metro will be a nightmare it would be worse when the metro comes up he said surely this consideration should not be allowed to prevail over the larger interest of public safety security and other advantages an overhead line will also make the metro more accessible