Thane Creek Bridge-III: Utility lines in lieu of revenue to be allowed

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is currently constructing the Thane Creek Bridge (TCB)-III. According to an official, once the bridge on the creek is ready, utility lines will be allowed in lieu of revenue on the non- traffic structure taking into account the safety of the bridge. This is along the lines of the Samruddhi Mahamarg, where three meters of dedicated space on both sides of the expressway has been left for laying utility lines.

The official said, "Allowing utility lines will help recovery the project cost to some extent." Already on Ild TCB bridge structure, a gas pipeline is passing through and the said agency is paying for it, the official asserted.

At present, the construction work of the TCB-III bridge is in its primary stage. The first test pile of the said bridge was started in December 2020 and the project is expected to be completed in three years excluding the delay caused due to pandemic induced lockdown. Reportedly, though the project was proposed long back however, due to the delay caused in obtaining clearance for mangrove cutting the project had been hampered for more than one year already. The MSRDC as a compensatory measure has offered 1.4 hectares of land in Madh Island for afforestation.

The under construction TCB-III will provide six more lanes to the existing TCB-II. Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) is carrying out the bridge construction work at cost of Rs 775.58 crore. Once ready the bridge on the creek will improve the connectivity between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai and will avoid the bottleneck at the existing three-lane TCB-II. Since the existing TCB-I and II were built in 1973 and 1997 respectively.