The BMC on Tuesday awarded the ₹1,998 crore Dahisar-Bhayandar Link Road (DBLR) project, constituting the final phase of the civic body’s Coastal Road, to infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
The tender for the project was floated in October, 2022 and nine companies had submitted their bids to the civic body, out of which three, J Kumar Infra projects, L&T and Afcons Infrastructure, were shortlisted. Earlier, the BMC had thrice failed to get any bids for the project. The civic body now aims to complete it in 42 months.
Details of DBLR
The DBLR will be 5.6 kilometres long, of which 1.5km will be under the jurisdiction of the BMC, and the remaining under the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC). The 45-metre-wide elevated bridge will be built on stilts and have 4×4 lanes to allow smooth flow of traffic. The road will start near Kandarpada Metro Station, Link Road, Dahisar (West), and end at Uttan Road, near Subhash Chandra Bose Ground, Bhayandar (West).
Economic activities in Mumbai Metropolitan Region and the Greater Mumbai Region are interconnected. As a result, there is a constant and continuous movement of people / vehicles from the adjoining cities to BMC area. MBMC is situated at the northern boundary of BMC.
Addressing Connectivity Challenges
At the moment, there are only two modes of connectivity available between MBMC and the BMC, the Western Express Highway and Western Railway lines, which provide road and rail connectivity. As a result of this, traffic jams on Western Express Highway and overcrowding in local trains is a constant issue. The sole road connectivity point, Dahisar Check Naka, is also subject to heavy congestion. The link road is being projected to solve these issues.
Interestingly, L&T is also the executing agency for the first phase of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project, which is expected to open by the end of this year, connecting Marine Drive with Bandra Worli Sea Link.
