Eastern e-way link to take longer

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA),which is constructing both the roads,has to first secure environmental clearance to connect the two new roads by a bridge over the Mahul Creek,which has ecologically sensitive mudflats visited by flamingos.

The MMRDA had applied to the Maharshtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) in August for an approval to build the bridge over the creek. “The MCZMA forwarded the matter to the Ministry of Environment and Forests,which sent the application back to us saying it is not under their purview,” an official working on the project said,adding the MMRDA will now send it back to the MCZMA for re-consideration.

“Unnecessarily three or four months have been wasted without getting any work done on the bridge,” he said. “Once we get environmental clearance,it will take us a minimum of six months to build the bridge.” The Anik Panjarpol Link Road will currently end at the Chembur-Mankhurd road till the completion of the Panjarpol Ghatkopar Link Road. Work on the Anik Panjarpol Link Road,being built at a cost of Rs 221 crore,is 70 per cent done and the MMRDA expects to open four lanes of the eight-lane road by May next year. “The remaining work would be completed after next year’s monsoon,” he said.

Once the Panjarpol Ghatkopar Link Road is ready,commuters can drive from south Mumbai straight to the Eastern Express Highway at Ghatkopar through the Eastern Freeway and the Anik Panjarpol Link Road. The Panjarpol Ghatkopar Link Road,scheduled to be completed by June 2012,is likely to be constructed only by next December,as the project still faces several hurdles in terms of land acquisition and shifting of project-affected people.