Eastern freeway project may miss deadline

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority's (MMRDA) Eastern freeway project is progressing too slow since land acquisition by other government agencies has not yet taken off in many areas. It may even miss the December 2007 deadline for the project.

The Rs 300 crore Eastern Freeway is expected to reduce congestion on Eastern Expressway and provide faster access to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) at Panvel.

The work on the important 23-km road began in March last year. However, so far only about 10-15 per cent of the work has been completed in the first stage between Aanik and Panjarpol.

Speaking to Business Standard a senior MMRDA official pointed out that acquiring of land from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation is yet to be completed.

Besides this, though MMRDA has readied homes for around 2,000 project-affected persons, water connection has not yet been given to these alternative houses.

Moreover, acquisition of salt pan land is also not progressing since the salt commissioner is yet to give permission.

The Eastern Freeway would start from behind Prince of Wales Museum in Colaba and open at the Panjarpole in Sewri which would ultimately connect to the transharbour link (Sewri-Navasheva bridge above the sea). This road is expected to reduce traffic congestion Mumbai-Pune road too which is always choc-a-block between Dadar and Chembur.

The road would run parallel to the De'Mello Road and it would also pass through the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) land. The five kilometer stretch which passes through the MbPT land would be elevated so that the freeway would not affect the traffic on the roads under the MbPT's jurisdiction.