Mumbai coastal road project 40% completed, says BMC Commissioner
What's the story
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has completed 40% physical work of the Rs. 12,000 crore-worth coastal road project from Marine Drive to Worli, including a one-km-long tunnel, BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said on Thursday. The project will be completed in November 2023. The work completed so far includes a tunnel of one-km length and a 40-feet diameter under Malabar Hill in south Mumbai.
Under-sea tunnel project
It is first-of-its-kind under-sea tunnel project in India: Chahal
Chahal said that only 900 meters of tunnel work is remaining now. "It is the first-of-its-kind under-sea tunnel project of 40-feet diameter executed in the country," he claimed. According to Chahal, the coastal road project being executed by the civic body between Marine Drive and Worli is 27-km-long and includes 16-km-long interchanges.
Information
Project also includes 125-acre garden and an underground parking facility
The project also includes a 125-acre garden on the reclaimed land abutting the coastal road with an underground parking facility for 1,852 cars. Notably, BMC has envisaged the Mumbai coastal road project south (MCRP) along the western seafront of Mumbai to decongest the existing roads.
First phase
First phase will connect Shamaldas Gandhi Marg to sealink
In the first phase, this ambitious eight-lane project intends to connect Shamaldas Gandhi Marg (Princess Street Flyover, Marine Drive) in south Mumbai to the Worli-end of the Bandra-Worli sealink according to the BMC website. The eight-lane project will comprise of a combination of coastal roads based on reclamation, tunnels, flyovers, elevated roads, interchanges, and sea wall/break wall, it said.
Further details
Tunnel is being constructed 20 meters below Arabian Sea
As per the BMC website, India's largest 12.19-meter-diameter tunnel is being constructed 20 meters below the shore of the Arabian Sea and 70 meters below Malabar Hill and has three lanes for transportation for south and north bound traffic. "One of the lanes is proposed to be reserved for emergency transport," according to the BMC.
Project
Objective is to provide alternate North-South Trunk route: BMC
"The objective of this project is to provide an alternate North-South Trunk route for the people of Mumbai which provides improved mobility to relieve the traffic congestion, enhances the environment, and leads to the sustainable development of much needed recreational public open spaces," the website said. "The work is going on round-the-clock in three shifts and will be completed in November 2023," Chahal stated.