The BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Monday said that nearly 17 per cent work of the ambitious eight-lane Mumbai coastal road project has been completed so far.
Sharing the status of the Rs 12,000-crore project, Chahal said the coastal road will be "functional in July 2023". "Substantial work has been done in the last couple of months with an expenditure of Rs 1,281 crore till November. Nearly 17 per cent work of the project work has been completed till now," Chahal said.
Mumbai Coastal Road Project | Screengrab of BMC video
About 175 acres of land has so far been reclaimed from the Arabian Sea for the project and another 102 acres is being reclaimed, the BMC chief said.
Chahal further said that a 400-metre-long tunnel boring machine of 39.6 feet diameter, which is the largest in India now, has been fully assembled on the reclaimed land and tunnel boring will commence from January 7, 2021.
Screengrab of BMC video
Started in October 2018, the coastal road project was earlier targeted to be completed by 2022, but it got delayed due to the litigations. The project work was stopped after the Bombay High Court in July 2019 quashed the Coastal Road Zone (CRZ) clearances granted to the project.
The petitioners had claimed that the BMC and state authorities had not conducted any public hearing or consultations with the fisherfolk from the city before planning and approving the project.
They claimed the road, once constructed, will take away their livelihood.
The reclamation of land for the road, which will run along Mumbai's west coast, will impact the livelihood of countless fishermen in areas like Worli, Khar Danda, Chimbai and several other places between Marine Drive and Kandivali, according to the petition.
The work restarted after the Supreme Court in December last year stayed the HC's order.
Screengrab of BMC video
The ambitious Rs 12,000-crore coastal road project, proposed to connect south Mumbai with northwestern suburbs of the metropolis, is one of the flagship infrastructure schemes of the Maharashtra government.
Screengrab of BMC video
The 8-lane and 29.2-km long Mumbai Coastal Road would run along Mumbai's western coastline connecting Marine Lines in the south to Kandivali in the north. The Coastal Road is expected to reduce travel time between South Mumbai and the Western Suburbs.
