Mumbai coastal road project: 36% of work completed against 40% target, says BMC

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has completed 36% of the total work of the coastal road project, against the 40% target it had set for completion by mid-2021

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has completed 36% of the total work of the coastal road project, against the 40% target it had set for completion by mid-2021.

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According to authorities, instead of the earlier target of July 2023 for project completion, the civic body aims to finish all the work by December 2023. The Covid-19 restrictions have affected the pace of the work.

The completed work includes about 470 metres (m) or 25% of tunnelling work of one tunnel and reclamation of 105 hectares (ha) of the total 111ha, Vijay Nighot, chief engineer for the coastal road project, said on Tuesday.

“At present, the piling work, casting of piers and girders, construction of the ramp work at Marine Drive and tunnelling work are in progress,” said Nighot.

Last December year, BMC had announced that its original target of completing the coastal road project by October 2022 had been pushed to July 2023. Nighot had then said, “We lost eight months due to the court case that had stayed the construction of the project in 2019. We also lost an additional six months due to the lockdown. However, during the lockdown, we did not stop the construction work completely.”

The 10.58-km coastal road will connect Nariman Point to Bandra Worli Sea Link. Twin tunnels of 2.07km will connect Girgaum Chowpatty and Malabar Hill. Each underground tunnel will have three lanes at a depth of 70m. The cost of the project is ₹8,429 crore, as per information from BMC.

As per the plan announced by the civic body, 55% of the work should be completed by this December, and by 2022, 85% of the work should be over.