MMRDA Blames Consultant Over OHE Height Clearance Issue on Metro Line 7A
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has held its external general consultant responsible for failing to adequately account for the additional height needed for the overhead electrification (OHE) system during the design of the Metro Line 7A corridor connecting Andheri East with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
The issue emerged as MMRDA awaits a final technical report from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) regarding applicable aviation height clearances for the airport-bound alignment and whether modifications will be required.
According to MMRDA, the SYSTRA-CEG-SMCIPL consortium, appointed as the General Consultant/Engineer for contract administration, was tasked with coordinating design and statutory requirements, including aviation height restrictions.
“The additional height required for the OHE system was not adequately highlighted and factored in by the Consultant at the appropriate stage of design and planning,” said Basavaraj M B, Director, Metro Project, MMRDA. He added that upon receiving the AAI’s final report, the authority will carry out a comprehensive technical assessment to determine the next course of action.
Metro Line 7A is a 3.4-km extension of the operational Metro Line 7, running partly underground and partly elevated parallel to the Western Express Highway and Sahar Elevated Road. The project had completed the diversion of a 2,400-mm Upper Vaitarna water pipeline in January this year and achieved its final underground tunnel breakthrough between Andheri East and the airport in July last year using TBM Dhruv, following an earlier breakthrough by TBM Disha.
The height-clearance issue follows earlier friction between MMRDA and SYSTRA. In November 2024, the French Embassy wrote to Maharashtra's Resident Commissioner in Delhi regarding complaints by SYSTRA over alleged harassment and undue monetary demands by officials, which the firm stated it refused. MMRDA subsequently issued a notice discontinuing SYSTRA's services on January 3, 2025.
SYSTRA challenged the decision before the Bombay High Court. A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Arif Doctor ruled that MMRDA's discontinuation of the contract, which had been extended up to December 2026, without assigning reasons, was arbitrary, unfair, and unreasonable.
