In an apparent effort to ensure his party hog the entire credit for launching a major development project ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday performed the “bhoomi puja” for Mumbai’s ambitious Rs 15,000 crore 29.2-km coastal road project, amid a boycott of the function by his party’s senior ruling alliance partner BJP.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was conspicuous by his absence at the foundation ceremony held at Amarsons garden near the Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai, in the presence of Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, State Industry Minister Subhash Desai, Sena’s south Mumbai MP Arvind Sawant, Uddhav’s wife Rashmi Thackeray and son Aditya. There were also no BJP functionaries at the function.
Sources in the ruling BJP said that the Sena had not invited Fadnavis for the function. As a consequence, the BJP leaders and corporators stayed away from the function.
Sources in the Sena attributed the party’s decision not to invite Fadnavis or any other BJP leader for the coastal Road “bhoomi puja” to the BJP-led Maharashtra Government’s decision of not inviting Uddhav for the “bhoomi puja” ceremony of two metro projects to be performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kalyan in the neighbouring Thane district on December 18.
Ahead of Sunday’s function, a poster war had broken between the Sena and BJP. While the Sena on put up posters announcing the “bhoomi puja” for the coastal road project, the BJP put up banners at the junction of the Shiv Sena’s headquarters “Sena Bhavan” thanking Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Fadnavis for issuing necessary permissions for taking up the coastal road work speedily. The BJP also put up posters along Lady Jamshedji Road at Mahim in south-central Mumbai.
To be developed by the Shiv Sena-ruled BMC and State-run Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (BMC) in four packages, the coastal road will connect Marine Lines in south Mumbai with Kandivli in north Mumbai. Along the 29.2 km stretch, the coastal road will have tunnels, bridges, interchanges, elevated stretches and roads on reclaimed land, along with pedestrian underpasses and foot over bridges (FoBs).
To be completed in the next four years, the coastal road will comprise eight lanes—six lanes dedicated to vehicular traffic and two lanes for a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit system) corridor. The road will reduce the travel time between Marine Lines and Kandivli by 70 per cent and fuel consumption by 30 per cent by each year.
The BMC has awarded the contract for the first phase of the south Mumbai stretch ---- from the Worli-end to Haji Ali, to a joint venture firm comprising Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and Hyundai Development Corporation.
The Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro has been chosen for undertaking road construction of the stretch from Priyadarshani Park at Napeansea Road to Haji Ali in two packages (packages two and three)
The package two involves the construction of a 3.82 Km long, 8-lane highway over reclaimed land from Priyadarshini Park to Baroda Palace, including interchanges at Amarson Garden and Haji Ali. The Package three involves the construction of a 3.93 Km stretch of coastal road from Princess Street Flyover to Priyadarshini Park.
The package four will involve the construction of a Rs 7,000-crore worth the 17 km Bandra-Versova sea-link, which will eventually become a part of the total coastal road project, is being handled separately by State-run Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The Reliance Infrastructure has been awarded the contract to undertake construction of this sea link.
Among other things, the project will also comprise the construction of two earthquake-resistant tunnels – one 20 to 25 mtrs below Girgaum Chowpatty and the other 70 to 75 mtrs below Malabar Hill. Each tunnel will be 3.4 km long and connected with 13 cross tunnels that can be opened up in case of emergency.
Ninety hectares of land will be reclaimed from the sea for the project. Of the reclaimed land, 22 per cent land will be used for the construction of roads while the remaining 78 per cent will be used to create amenities for the project. These will include development of three underground parking lots at Amarsons Garden, Mahalaxmi Temple and Worli sea face.
The BMC is also planning create facilities like a cycling track, a jogging track and a botanical butterfly garden along the coastal road route.