Launching the first girder for the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL), Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said the work on the 22-km sea bridge that will connect Mumbai to Navi Mumbai is likely to be completed before the September 2022 deadline. It will be the longest sea bridge in India.
“I have been told that the work is expected to get completed before time. For years, people asked when the project would take off. I am happy that it has not only started today, but is progressing at a rapid pace,” Thackeray said.
When asked about the concerns raised by environmentalists that the construction might drive away migratory flamingos that flock to the city’s mudflats every year, Thackeray said, “Even as we were driving through, we could see flamingos near the project site.”
The ₹17,843-crore project has been in talks since 1980s, however, work on-ground kicked off only in 2018.
When it was mooted in the 1980s, the cost of the project was around ₹350 crore. As of today, close to 25% of the work has been completed.
RA Rajeev, metropolitan commissioner, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is executing the project, said Wednesday’s girder launch was also completed 60 days in advance.
{{/usCountry}}RA Rajeev, metropolitan commissioner, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is executing the project, said Wednesday’s girder launch was also completed 60 days in advance.
{{/usCountry}}“Many of the works are being completed ahead of time. MTHL is a one-of-its-kind project not only in India, but also in the world. It will set a record,” Rajeev said.
The girder launch was automated, a first in India, said additional metropolitan commissioner Sanjay Khandare. The 3+3 lane project will make use of three lakh metric tonnes of steel and cement and 10 lakh cubic meters of concrete. The MMRDA is also constructing a 5.6-km temporary access bridge for the project.
The sea corridor will also have noise and vision barriers installed on a 6-km stretch, first to block the view of the sensitive BARC nuclear complex and
the other to protect the movement of flamingos and other migratory birds at the Sewri mudflats.