JANUARY 11: The Maharashtra government's ambitious Worli-Bandra Sea Link project has been cleared by the Union Environment Ministry. Work on Phase I of the project will begin on May 1 this year, and the entire project will be completed in two years.Announcing the clearance given by Union Environment Minister Suresh Prabhu at a joint press conference at Mantralaya, Public Works Minister Nitin Gadkari and Transport Minister Diwakar Raote said that the Shiv Sena-BJP government was committed to completing the project in a record time of two years and providing the best services to the people of Maharashtra.Chief Minister Manohar Joshi said the bridge would be a pride not only of Maharashtra but of the entire nation, while Suresh Prabhu said there was a plan to extend this sea bridge up to Nariman Point.Also known as the Worli-Bandra Free Way, the link project will be executed by the newly-formed Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and will cost around Rs 350 crore, Gadkari said. ``Atpresent, the Mahim causeway is the only link connecting the western suburbs and the island city of Mumbai. The existing S V Road and the Annie Besant Road from Mahim to Worli is highly congested, and it takes about one hour to cover this 12 kilometres-long stretch during the peak hours. Our project is aimed at providing an additional link as an alternative to this road. It will not only save precious time - about 20 minutes - but also save fuel worth Rs 38 crore annually for Mumbai's commuters,'' Gadkari said.To bring the latest construction technology to India, he added, the international engineering firm that has constructed the maximum number of flyovers on sea the world over will be appointed consultant for the project.The project consists of a main 120 km-long bridge on Mahim bay. ``The speciality of the bridge is that it will be cable stayed - a special technique used for long flyovers,'' Gadkari said. The total length of the link is 5.60 kms, including approaches at Worli and Bandra. The flyoverwill have eight lanes, two of them dedicated to buses. The flyover will have traffic monitoring surveillance, control and emergency support.Transport Minister Diwakar Raote said the state government has decided to collect toll from users of the link bridge. ``However, BEST and MSRTC commuters will not be charged an additional fare for using the link. The government will collect 0.001 per cent of the annual income of the BEST and one per cent of the annual income of MSRTC towards the toll,'' Raote said.
