03 December,2010 06:51 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
MMRDA's plan to build a multi-modal corridor between Virar and Alibaug may take time before it kicks off, as it coincides with the route chalked out for an NHAI project
If you thought you could zip your way to the city's weekend getaway Alibaug on the Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor, put your hopes on hold.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA)'s ambitious plan may just have been pushed back some more, because of its plans to construct on the same route as the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had planned to build roads on overlap with the NHAI's.
The MMRDA's multi-modal corridor will pass through the townships of Virar, Vasai, Diva, Bhiwandi, Kalyan and Panvel till Alibaug
The NHAI plans to connect Dahanu and Revas, which is also the same stretch thatu00a0 apparently the MMRDA has chalked out for its multi-modal corridor.
The MMRDA has already appointed a consultant to design the route. The consultant would now have to make changes in the alignment that might further delay the project even before it takes offs.
MMRDA Joint Project Director Dilip Kawatkar said, "It is true that our projects are overlapping but we have already sent a proposal to NHAI asking them to drop their plan as once the multimodal corridor is completed there would not be any requirement for any other road."
An official from MMRDA said, "Things are not as easy as they seem because the NHAI's plan to construct a 140-km road connecting Dahanu with Revas was designed long back and it is the lack of planning on the part of the MMRDA that the problem has arisen."
The MMRDA appointed Louis Berger Group Inc as techno-economic and financial feasibility consultant for the 140-km Virar-Alibaug multimodal corridor project in August.
The project that will be based on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model has been divided into Phase I, for the 90 km from Virar to Panvel, and Phase-II, for the 50 km from Panvel to Alibaug.
It will start from Virar on NH-18 and end at Alibaug on NH-17 via Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Dombivli and Panvel.
The corridor will pass through Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan, Dombivli, Mira Road, Bhayandar, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, Kulgaon, Nalasopara, Vasai, Virar, Navaghar, Alibaug, Karjat, Khopoli, Matheran, Panvel, Pen and Uran.
In multi mode
The MMRDA Rs 10,000-crore project is expected to provide seamless connectivity by the metro as well as by road from Alibaug to Virar.
The corridor will bypass the western and eastern suburbs and also the routes which will witness growth in the future.
The proposed alignment will connect four crucial national highways: NH8 (Mumbai-Ahmedabad), NH3 (Mumbai-Agra-Delhi), NH4 (Mumbai-Chennai) and NH17 (Goa-Mangalore-Kerala).
Rs 10,000 cr
The MMRDA project is expected to provide seamless connectivity by u00a0u00a0the metro as well as by road from Alibaug to Virar.
