After the state government had plans to turn the financial hub of the country into Shanghai, it now appears that the civic body wants to compete with the infrastructure of the coastal city of Qingdao, in China.
After the state government had plans to turn the financial hub of the country into Shanghai, it now appears that the civic body wants to compete with the infrastructure of the coastal city of Qingdao, in China.
According to BMC officials, Commissioner Subodh Kumar wants the ambitious coastal road projectu00a0-- that will connect high security zones near Raj Bhavan, Navy Nagar to major coastal roads like Carter Road, Bandstand and Marine Driveu00a0-- to be similar to the roads of Qingdao after his visit to the town last week. 
Kumar, who was in China last week for the BRIC summit, was impressed with the infrastructure of Qingdao. An official said, "The commissioner was fascinated with the planning. It is true that he would like our coastal road project to be modelled after Qingdao." According to the official, the commissioner is planning to have a walkway and a cycling track along the coastline of the city. "All this will be achieved with the expansion of the existing roads," added the official.
A few weeks back Kumar had a meeting with Environ-ment Minister Jairam Ramesh to discuss plans of the project wherein Kumar had proposed all coastal roads to be expanded by 40 metres, informed a senior official. He said, "We have already appointed a joint committee to study the feasibility of the project."
Kumar confirmed, "Every place we visit gives us different ideas. We will incorporate these ideas in the proposal. We are keeping our options open." BMC's standing committee chairperson Rahul Shewale said, "He seems to be very interested in the coastal road project and if he can work it out, we are in favour of it.u00a0 Kumar has discussed pumping Rs 5,000-6,000 and has already been pitching the idea to the environment ministry."
City of qingdao
Qingdao is well-connected by roads. The lengths of highways on operation are 14,326 km, including 700 km Expressways. At present, the traffic mileage is more than 6.02 billion km per year.
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