Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The only fact more startling than the eight long years it took to build the Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai was that this 5.6 km link was only one of a network of bridges and tunnels
that would decongest the financial centre of Indias commercial heart. Without the entire chain complete,bottlenecks would merely move location. When the Bandra-Worli sea link was finally opened to the public on June 30,2009,attention shifted to its extension the 4.7 km long Worli-Haji Ali bridge. Soon after,Chief Minister Ashok Chavan told this newspaper that the contract process for this phase would be over in 15 days,and the road ready in two-three years. A full five months after that promise,the Maharashtra governments sub-committee on infrastructure headed by Chavan himself has just awarded the contract to Reliance Infrastructure. Work is all set to begin.
The Pedder Road flyover a further link in the chain has also got the environmental green signal. The flyover has been facing opposition from well-heeled residents in this plush part of south Mumbai; their obduracy must not be allowed to hold up construction any longer. The interlinking bridges and tunnels,if completed,will shorten the long road from Mumbai airport to Nariman Point. But it remains to be seen if the government will measure up to its talk through that entire journey.
