Stung by strict conditions laid down by bank on rehabilitating project-affected people, govt decides to opt for loan from Indian Railway Finance Corp In a move that it says has been prompted by the strict conditionalities laid down by the World Bank (WB) on rehabilitation issues, the state government and Railways may not seek a loan from the bank for the component of the proposed Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) II that seeks to lay additional railway lines and involves rehabilitation of project-affected people. Senior state government officials said the component would instead be financed with a loan from the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC). They added that a decision had been taken on segregating the Rs 5,000 crore outlay of MUTP II into II A and II B components, which deal with acquisition of additional rolling stock and the laying of additional lines and rehabilitation of the people affected by the project. The second phase of MUTP, which will commence after MUTP I concludes, involves laying additional railway lines like the fifth and sixth lines between Kurla and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), the sixth line between Mumbai Central- Santacruz- Borivali and between Diva and Thane and extension of the Harbour Line to Goregaon. These additional railway lines are meant to segregate lines for local and outstation passenger and freight trains in the network, to improve and speed up services. Officials said it also involved the rehabilitation of people from pucca buildings and from slums that will come in the way. The WB, which is funding some of the city's mega projects, had laid down strict conditions for the rehabilitation of the project affected people (PAP). Dissatisfied by the rehabilitation of the project affected, the WB had in 2006 held up funds for the road component of the MUTP I. "This causes delays in projects,' admitted a senior official, adding that these strict conditions laid down by the bank were responsible for the move. While a WB loan would be sought for the acquisition of 96 additional rakes that seeks to reduce the crush load in local trains to 2,700, the second component which involves rehabilitation will be done without the bank's aid, he added. A request had been sent to the Centre's Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) for the WB loan. Currently, 16 commuters jostle for a square metre of space in local trains during rush hours, with a rake meant for 1,700 people being crammed with 5,000 passengers ' more than twice the capacity. While the ongoing MUTP I aims at reducing this crush load to 3,600 people per train after inducting 156 rakes, (including replacement for old trains to be phased out), the MUTP II plans to reduce this further to 2,700. While the ongoing MUTP I plans to convert all fast trains and 20 per cent of the slow trains on the main line into 12-car ones, the MUTP II aims at converting all rakes into 12-car ones.