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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has secured much-coveted clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to construct a cable-stayed flyover connecting Madh Island in the western suburbs with Versova, 10 years after the ambitious project was proposed, officials said.
The flyover will cut down travel time between the two places–where there is no direct road connectivity now–to five minutes from 45-60 minutes during peak hours. The tenders for this project were floated in March last year, and work orders were issued in September. The final cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 2,395 crore, which was 33 per cent above the estimated cost of Rs 1,800 crore.
When contacted, BMC officials said the estimated cost was updated keeping in mind the change in market rates as well as factors like labour charges, material costs, and the Goods and Services Tax.
The officials said all major permissions were in place now and that the next step would be to approach the Bombay High Court.
“The flyover will pass above the Marve creek, which falls under the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) area. Therefore, we have to inform the high court about the green cover that will be impacted and present our environmental impact assessment (EIA) report. We have already secured permission from the forest department and the state coastal management authority. After the final no-objection certificate comes from the high court, we will go ahead with the construction work,” an official said.
The BMC finalised the project’s blueprint in 2020. Since the flyover would pass through a dense mangrove cover and coastal regulatory zone, the civic body required environmental clearances.
Later, in March 2022, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority asked the BMC to come up with an alternative alignment for this flyover, to ensure minimum damage to the mangroves.
The previous blueprint was also opposed by the local Koli community, which alleged that the alignment would inconvenience them as they park their boats and would also drive away fish from the shallow water, affecting their livelihood in return.
“The new alignment ensures minimum damage to the environment, and the bridge will be entirely cable-stayed, which means that we will carry out piling work at a limited capacity,” the official added.
The authorities aim to start work on the flyover by year-end and have set a three-year target for completing the project.
The flyover will be 2.06 km long, passing above the Madh Creek. Madh Island and Versova are now connected by a jetty, and there’s no scope for vehicular access. Motorists have to travel via Link Road, SV Road, or Western Express Highway, taking over 45 minutes during peak hours. Also, the ferry service at the jetty remains suspended during the monsoon season.
This ambitious flyover project was proposed in 2015.
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