Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde cleared the decks for the use of the second phase of the toll-free Mumbai Coastal Road (MCR) in style on Monday, as he hopped onto a gleaming vintage 1930 Rolls Royce-20/25 open-to-sky car along with two of his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and rode the entire stretch of the newly constructed road.
The south-north arm of the MCR will be formally thrown open to traffic from Tuesday. This stretch of MCR will bring down commute time from Marine Lines to Haji Ali in south Mumbai from the current one hour to mere eight minutes. Though the Maharashtra government preferred to call the event as inspection of the new road, it was as good as inauguration of the phase 2 of the MCR, as Shinde – with Fadnavis and Ajitdada (as Ajit Pawar is known in the state political circles) – boarded the roofless vintage steely-grey beauty and had a memorable drive along the entire stretch of the road.
With Shinde in the front seat, along with Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar in the back seat, the Rolls Royce-20/25 negotiated with ease the swank new road, which has been named as “Dharmaveer Swarajyarakshak Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Road (south).
The MCR has been named after Hindavi Swaraj founder Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's son Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj (May 14, 1657-March 11, 1689) who ruled the Maratha kingdom from January 1681 till his death in March 1689.
Interestingly enough, the state government had borrowed the highly-priced, well-maintained Rolls Royce-20/25 from its proud owner Raymonds Group Chairman Gautam Singhania for the event. The first phase of this 10.5 km stretch of MCA -- the north-south arm from Worli to Marine Lines involving the twin tunnels -- had been inaugurated on March 11. Being a toll-free road, this stretch of the MCR is being increasingly used by motorists in the metropolis.
Talking to media persons after the event, Shinde said that the new stretch of the MCR, which will be thrown open to the public on Tuesday, has been equipped with all the modern amenities. “I am sure this road will not only prove to be a boon for the motorists but it will also decongest traffic to and from south Mumbai to the northern parts of the city. The MCR will be fully completed by October this year,”the chief minister said.
Being constructed by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the MCR involves twin-tunnels running below the Malabar Hill.
Once operational, the MCR will slash the road commute time from 60 minutes to barely eight minutes, and is expected to be extended from Worli to Dahisar (north-west Mumbai) and beyond, in the coming years.
