CM Chavan says Rs 8,000-crore MSRDC project plans yet to reach him

The Maharashta State Road Development Corporation MSRDC claims that the important projects worth over Rs 8000 crore such as the water transport on east and west coast of Mumbai augmentation plan of MumbaiPune Expressway decision about scrapping the contract of WorliHaji Ali sealink BandraVersova sealink await the final decision from the CMheaded Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure However Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan while interacting with journalists on Friday said that the committee headed by him has not received any projects for approval or cancellation yet CM Prithviraj Chavan heads the Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure Sources from MSRDC told this newspaper that the six projects are awaiting clearance from the Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure since more than six months When questioned when the state Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure will clear the projects Chavan said ldquoTo the best of my knowledge there are no projects on agenda before the cabinet committee subcommittee on infrastructure and so the question about clearing them does not arise If any new projects come before the subcommittee we will soon take a decision on the samerdquo The six major projects on which the decision is long pending are scrapping contract with Reliance InfrastructureHyundai for Rs 4550 crore WorliHaji Ali Sea Link constructing BandraVersova Sea Link having a price tag of Rs 4045 crore augmentation of MumbaiPune Expressway at a cost of Rs 3665 crore inland water passenger transport project for eastern Rs 44047 crore as well as western coast Rs 915 crore of Mumbai and four laning of 700 km long NagpurAurangabadSinnarGhotiMumbai road In the last Cabinet subcommittee meeting on infrastructure which took place on August 2 the decision about the three projects of the Public Works Department PWD namely NagarNashik road widening ChakanSikhrapur road widening and connecting Dighi Port with National Highway 17 MumbaiGoa Highway was taken However the subcommittee took no decision regarding the six MSRDC projectsu00a0When questioned about the fate of the WorliHaji Ali sealink Chavan said ldquoThat decision will be taken soon but I personally give preference to the coastal road over the sealink as the construction cost of coastal road is cheaper than the sealinkrdquo Expert speak Transport Expert Jitendra Gupta said ldquoWe have been reading that some important MSRDC projects await clearance from the Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure If the CM claims that no project or file is pending with his infrastructure committee itrsquos a shocking statement It only proves that there is a lack of coordination between the Congress and NCPheaded MSRDCrdquou00a0Gupta added ldquoI feel that the decision on the project will be announced just before the code of conduct of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections comes into action This might be a strategy to woo voters With the current market condition there are few chances that investors will come forward to invest in the major infrastructure projects The best example is the failure of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link it failed to attract biddersrdquo What do MSRDC officials have to say An MSRDC official requesting anonymity said ldquoOn Saturday we gave a presentation to the Chief Minister about the Water Transport Project and the MumbaiPune Expressway augmentation plan He raised some points We will work on them and send the project to the Cabinet subcommittee on Infrastructure again for final approval We expect the CM to clear these projects in the next Cabinet subcommittee meetingrdquou00a0 Projects awaiting clearance from Cabinet subcommittee Mumbai Pune Expressway Augmentation plan The Rs 3600crore old MumbaiPune Highway augmentation plan which includes a nine kmlong tunnel between Khopoli and Lonavala will be placed before the Cabinet subcommittee on infrastructure next week The plan for the tunnels which alone will cost Rs 800 crore is expected to get a go ahead from the cabinet committee MSRDC has plans to complete the project by 2017 which will segregate the old highway and the Mumbai Pune Expressway MPE between Khopoli and Lonavala reducing the journey time between Mumbai and Pune by another 3045 minutes The tunnel is perhaps the most accidentprone area on MPE The tunneling project is part of MSRDCs expansion plans Inland Passenger Water Transport Projectu00a0 The ambitious Inland Passenger Water Transport IPWT Project on the East and West Rs 1350 crore has received the final clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest more than a month ago but the final approval from the Cabinet subcommittee on Infrastructure is pending u00a0The four laning of the 700 km long NagpurAurangabadSinnarGhotiMumbai road is also awaiting clearance The Bandra Versova Sea Link is also awaiting clearance