08 December,2010 07:05 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
The fate of the much-awaited 22-km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link lies in limbo as the state is yet to take a call on which agency will construct the Sea Link
In a five-part series, MiD DAY highlights the progress, delays and status of various infrastructure projects in the city
The fate of the much-awaited 22-km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), which would connect Sewree to Nhava Sheva across the Arabian Sea still remains in limbo as the state government is yet to take a call on which of the government agencies will construct the project.
Currently, there is a toss up between the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) for the project.
Project name: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link
Project In charge: Maharashtra State Government
Cost: R8,300 crore
Expected date of completion: As government is yet to take a call on which agency would construct the project it is difficult to say when it would be completed. However, it would take well over six years to complete this project, as it would be the longest sea link in India.
First plans
Planned in 1997, the MTHL project was estimated at a projected cost of Rs 4,000 crore, but due to technical and legal hassles and delays the project cost has now escalated to Rs 8,300 crore in 2010.
Though the MSRDC was the planning authority since 2004, the government gave the project to MMRDA in 2006. And the MSRDC was made the executing authority.
In November 2008, the urban development department presented its report on both the authorities and the project to former chief minister Ashok Chavan.
Legal tangle
The matter then went to the Supreme Court owing to a dispute between the Ambani brothers. While the tender filed by Anil Ambani was more attractive than that of elder brother Mukesh's. According to Anil Ambani's tender, the government would have gained ownership of the sea link after nine years and 11 months.
But Anil Ambani's company did not show any interest in the project after mid-2008. The government later decided that MMRDA would provide the economic support, but it did not specify who would carry out the construction.
In mid 2010, MMRDA, which is keen on taking up the project, had forwarded its proposal on MTHL to Urban Development Department (UDD) of the state government for scrutiny. At the same time MSRDC also forwarded their revised proposal to the UDD.
In April, former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan asked UDD Chief TC Benjamin to scrutinise both the projects and suggest which agency should construct the bridge.
A senior officer from UDD department told MiD DAY, "After scrutinising the proposals of MMRDA and MSRDC, T C Benjamin prepared a detailed report which was forwarded to CM for final approval around six months back.
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However, with new CM Prithviraj Chauhan coming in the project would further get delayed as he would also study the project before taking any decision."
However, a senior MMRDA official said the main reason for delay in decision was due the ongoing tussle between congress, which heads the UDD portfolio, and NCP which heads the PWD and MSRDC portfolio.
The other major hurdle was the pending decision on the new international airport at Navi Mumbai, but now as the airport has got clearance the decision on MTHL is expected soon.
Transport expert Sudhir Badmi said, "Due to the tussle between Congress and NCP, the government is not taking the decision on MTHL which is a crucial infrastructure project that will connect Mumbai to Nhava Sheva, and the Mumbai Pune Express highway and cut down travel time to 30 from present 90 minutes."
Badami added that as the clearance has been given to Navi Mumbai Airport it is important that work on the MTHL starts soon as it will offer a better connectivity to Mumbaikars.
However, when MiD DAY spoke to MSRDC Minister Jaydutt Kshirsgar last month, he said, "We are keen on taking up the project and the new proposal prepared by our agency will attract bidders.
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Our advantage is that we have already taken clearance from the Environment ministry and so we would complete the project in less time compared to any other agency."
Did you know?
The discussion over the MTHL project began in the 1970s, when JG Bodhe was the mayor. Bodhe, a renowned engineer and architect, had presented the first draft of the project.
When completed, the bridge could be the fourth longest in the world, connecting Sewri in mainland Mumbai to Nhava across the creek, providing access to growth centres like the southern part of Navi Mumbai, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, the proposed SEZs in the region and the proposed international airport near Kharghar.
Environmentalistu00a0says
Ecologist and Biologist Anand Pendharkar said, "The construction of MTHL will have an adverse impact on the environment and the migratory birds which come to Sewree from European countries. "More than 1.5 lakh birds of over 50 species come to Sewree creek during winter season.u00a0
The Sewree creek has been a breeding ground for over fourth thousand flamingoes and if the MTHL project takes of these birds would loose their habitat that would directly have an impact on the breeding activity of these birds."
Another Environment expert who did not wished to be named said that due to the MTHL bridge a section of mangroves will get affected on sewree part which is a serious issue of concern.
Fact File
Once completed, the bridge would be the fourth longest in the world after the 36-km Hangzhou bay bridge in China, the 32-km Donghai Bridge in China and the 26-km King Fahd Causeway linking Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
The MSRDC estimates that by 2015, the MTHL ufffd if it is built by then ufffd could see traffic of 55,000 Passenger Car Units (PCU) without the SEZ and international airport and 68,000 PCUs with the
SEZ and airport.
