Coastal road project: Contractors decommission machinery following HC stay

However, another civic official said that the machinery is being taken away to provide space for vanity vans for an upcoming Hollywood film shoot.

With the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) ambitious coastal road project stuck over environmental clearances, the contractors concerned have now started decommissioning their machinery from the site at Napean Sea Road.

Construction work of the coastal road was started in October 2018, but in July this year, the Bombay high court (HC) put a stay on the ₹12,000-crore project citing that it needed to have environmental clearances. (HT Photo)

BMC chief Praveen Pardeshi confirmed the same and said that work will start only after the final decision by the Supreme Court (SC). “The work is likely to start only after we get the go-ahead from the SC,” said Pardeshi.

However, another civic official said that the machinery is being taken away to provide space for vanity vans for an upcoming Hollywood film shoot.

The contract for the coastal project was bagged by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Hindustan Construction Company (HCC). A spokesperson for L&T refused to comment while the HCC spokesperson said that they will be guided by their client, the BMC.

Construction work of the coastal road was started in October 2018, but in July this year, the Bombay high court (HC) put a stay on the ₹12,000-crore project citing that it needed to have environmental clearances. The civic body rushed to the SC to lift the stay, however, the matter is still pending.

Two months after the work was stopped, contractors have now started decommissioning the heavy machinery, including huge cranes which were brought in especially for the coastal road, said a senior BMC official, requesting anonymity.

Additional municipal commissioner, Vijay Singhal, who is in charge of the project, said, “We are confident that the stay will be lifted soon. Even if the contractors are decommissioning the machinery, they are capable of starting the work right away once all legal hurdles are cleared.”

One civic official, however, suggested that the decommissioning of machinery is due to a film shooting. “Hollywood director Christopher Nolan is likely to start shooting his movie Tenet, this month in the city. The film crew needed space to park their vanity vans near Tata Garden and they have the necessary permissions for the same,” he said. Mukul Mehta, a resident of Embassy Apartments at Napean Sea Road, said, “The huge crane was dismantled, loaded on to a truck and taken away. The other machinery is still there.”