Mumbai : In a boost for the ambitious Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), the state’s environmental body, Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, has given requisite clearances to the project and has recommended it to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
The project had suffered a major setback last month when the National Green Tribunal suspended its environmental clearance and asked the MMRDA to start the process of obtaining approvals afresh. The delay will impact the process of the loan agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) that the MMRDA planned to ink by December-end. The signing of the loan agreement is now expected by the end of the financial year, officials said.
MMRDA officials are hopeful that the setback will not hamper the pace of the project much and the clearance from the Centre will be obtained soon. “The MCZMA has approved the project; so now it will go to the MoEF. We have complied with the issues that were raised by the authorities and are hopeful that the approval process will be taken up urgently and clearance will be granted soon,” said UPS Madan, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.
The project, which was mooted in the 1980s, has been facing delays ever since. MTHL is a 22-km-long cable-stayed bridge that would link Sewri on the island city of Mumbai and Nhava on the hinterland. Once completed, it would be the second longest sea-link in the world after the 42-km long sea bridge between Qingdao to Huangdao in China.
Meanwhile, JICA — the agency that is funding the project — is already carrying out its independent environment impact assessment. JICA will be funding 80% of the project cost which comes to Rs 8,800 crore.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s recent Japan tour — where he met senior JICA officials — sealed the deal for the state.
