Coronavirus lockdown: 30 Chinese nationals may come to city to help with Coastal Road work

mehul.thakkar@htlive.com

mehul.thakkar@htlive.com

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Amid the lockdown owing to the coronavirus outbreak, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is likely to give a recommendation letter to allow 30 Chinese nationals to visit the city after one month, terming it a special case for tunnelling work of the ambitious coastal road. The civic body, however, will give the letter only if the situation improves, and the spread is brought under control in the coming days, said officials.

A 12.9-m wide tunnel boring machine (TBM), which will be used for the coastal road work, has left from China’s Shanghai port earlier this week to reach the Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai by the end of April. The recommendation letter will be to help the 30 Chinese nationals, who will provide crucial help in assembling these machines, get visas. The BMC, which is implementing the project, has been in touch with the Central government authorities to find a solution.

Vijay Nighot, chief engineer of the BMC’s coastal road project, said: “We will require around 30 representatives from the TBM manufacturing unit in China to visit Mumbai, and guide us during the tunnelling and assembling the machine. We will help them get visa by giving a recommendation letter, but only in case the situation improves in the coming days. It all depends on how things take shape in the coming days.”

According to BMC officials, the representatives from China will be screened following all necessary protocol to determine any symptoms or signs of the coronavirus. “We can also ask the Chinese nationals coming to Mumbai to get quarantined for 14 days. For now, we will have to wait and watch,” said a BMC official.

Meanwhile, the construction of the coastal road along with Metro and road projects has also taken a hit in the past two weeks owing to the lockdown, as contractors are finding it tough to get labourers who have headed back to their hometowns.