BMC reinvites tender for elevated road from Eastern Freeway to Grant Road Station area
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) reinvited the tender on Tuesday for the construction of an elevated road from the Eastern Freeway (Orange Gate) to the Grant Road station area after cancelling the initial tender
Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) reinvited the tender on Tuesday for the construction of an elevated road from the Eastern Freeway (Orange Gate) to the Grant Road station area after cancelling the initial tender.
Vivek Kalyankar, the chief engineer, bridges, confirmed that the tender has been reinvited for the new connectivity where the Freeway ends at P D’mello Road up to Grant Road. “It will be a 5.6km connector at an approximate cost of ₹1,100 crore. This elevated road will prevent congestion at P Dmello road,” he said.
The Unnat Marg bridge aims to facilitate smoother connectivity for commuters heading towards the eastern suburbs from areas in south Mumbai, including Grant Road, Nana Chowk, Napeansea Road, Pedder Road, and Tardeo. The new elevated road, expected to be completed in 42 months, this will cut travel time to 6-7 minutes from the otherwise 30-50 minutes during peak hours.
The initial tender for the project was invited in February 2023, with a projected cost of ₹662.42 crore. After a seven-month extension, the BMC received responses from five bidders. However, technical issues and the necessity for a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) from the Central Railway (CR) and Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) led to a roadblock in October 2023, resulting in the cancellation of the tender.
A civic official said, “There were also issues where prospective bidders had doubts and questions on estimated cost, design of the bridge, and tender conditions due to which the earlier tender had to be cancelled,” he said.
The entry point ramp will be from Grant Road station and will pass through Maulana Shaukat Ali Road, JJ Hospital on Ramchandra Bhatt Marg, and the exit point will be on the Eastern Freeway.