Half a link at midnight,half by December

The “new monument for the city” will be inaugurated by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at a function where NCP chief Sharad Pawar,Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and his deputy Chhagan Bhujbal will also be present.

“We’ve handled numerous other challenging projects before in the country but the construction of the sea link was the most challenging infrastructure project undertaken in recent history. The sea link is the next landmark in the city after the Gateway of India,” said Ajit Gulabchand,chairman and managing director of Hindustan Construction Company.

On the payment issues with the state government,he said those were a “lesson”. But asked specifically about the pending bills from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation,he said,“We’re going to inaugurate it and this is not the time to talk about it. Such things happen in a project of this magnitude.”

The carriageway that will be opened to traffic will have two lanes of traffic in both directions. The highlight of the sea link is the two “aesthetically designed” cable-stayed bridges,with the highest towers,at 126 metres,standing as tall as 43-storey buildings.

Motorists using the sea link need to pay a toll of Rs 50 for a one-way trip; for a round trip the charge is Rs 75. A multi-trip pass for a day costs Rs 125 while a monthly pass costs Rs 2,500. A modern toll plaza with 16 lanes,with eight lanes operating now,has been put up at the Bandra end. The plaza has electronic tolling as well as manual toll payment systems.