Mumbai : Long before the first underground metro trains began running in 2025, visionary plans for a subterranean rail network had already been drafted — first in 1924 by legendary engineer M. Visvesvaraya, and later in 1957 by P. G. Patankar, then General Manager of BEST.
According to documents discovered by the Heritage Conservation department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Visvesvaraya’s 1924 “Municipal Retrenchment and Reform” report proposed a 12 km circular electric line connecting the city’s busiest railway stations and commercial centres — anticipating the congestion challenges that Mumbai would later face.
In 1957, under the leadership of Dr. P. G. Patankar, the BEST commissioned plans for a 31.9 km network of underground metro lines. Its design proposed five interconnected routes crisscrossing Mumbai Island, including a loop through the Fort area and lines linking VT (Victoria Terminus) to Byculla, Sion East, and Mahim West. Patankar’s blueprint argued that an underground system was essential to ease the mounting traffic congestion in a rapidly growing metropolis.
However, due to financial constraints and perceived technical challenges, those early plans remained on paper for decades. Now, with the Mumbai Metro Aqua Line operating completely underground, the long-cherished ideas of Visvesvaraya and Patankar have found a tangible outcome. MMRCL Director Ashwini Bhide said it is a privilege to help realize the vision first sketched nearly a century ago.
