In a major infrastructure development push for Mumbai, the Union Government on Monday granted an environmental clearance to the Rs10,000-crore Coastal Road Project, which will not only de-congest the traffic in the metropolis but would also help create 91 hectares of green spaces along the ambitious road linking the southern-most tip of the metropolis with the northern suburbs.
To be constructed along the Western Coastline from Nariman Point in South Mumbai to Kandivli in North Mumbai, the 35-km road will have four lanes — two of which will be reserved for Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) to make public transport more effective in the city where traffic has over the years been becoming increasingly unmanageable. Enroute the road, there will be two undersea tunnels, which will be developed to avoid construction in congested areas.
Slated to be executed in the next “five to six years” under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, the ambitious project envisages inclusion of promenades, gardens, playgrounds and public spaces along the road.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change handed out clearance to the Mumbai Coastal Road project, after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met MoS (Independent charge) of the Ministry Prakash Javadekar at Indira Paryavaran Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday.
Talking to the mediapersons in the Capital, Chief Minister Fadnavis said: “I think the green signal to the Coastal Road Project is a major gift to Mumbaikars. It is like a dream come true for them”.
“Currently, there is 60 per cent of the traffic on the Western Expressway. However, the construction of the Coastal Road would help ease and decongest Mumbai traffic along the Western Coastline. People who reside in the western side of the city will benefit from it,” Fadnavis said.
Fadnavis said that as per the timeline drawn up for the formal clearance of the Mumbai coastal road project, the draft notification would be issued by June 15 and the final notification by August 15, 2015.
He said the project would not contribute to any dilution of the high tide line or changes to prevalent restrictions imposed on construction activity in coastal zones, adding the green spaces to be created would not be misused by way of real estate development.
“Care would be taken with regards to the transportation and green spaces. We have assured the Centre that we would not only agree to all the environmental and furnish an undertaking towards the same. The Centre also wanted an assurance from the State Government regarding re-plantation of some mangrove-laden tracts and we have committed to fulfil all legal obligations in this regard,” Fadnavis said.