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The Rs 8,500 crore Mumbai coastal road promises to be a landmark in the infrastructure space in the country. Here are five interesting snippets about the project
1. The Coastal Road project is being undertaken after the Maharashtra government decided to overturn a 37-year-old policy decision to preserve the coastal zones surrounding the island city. The state now seeks to reclaim coastal land previously off-limits to any kind of development, to put in place infrastructure that will substantially decongest the city and ease the flow of goods and services into and from it.
2. The project envisages a 35-km road from Nariman Point to Kandivli, and the Metro III Colaba-Bandra-Seepz corridor will integrated with it. The project includes road construction on 10 km of land reclaimed for the purpose, and will house two 3.5-km submarine tunnels as well.
3. The road will be constructed based on Dutch technology, following an MoU signed by the governments of the Netherlands and Maharashtra. The Dutch have an established expertise in the area of environment-friendly reclamation technology, visible in the mega projects executed in The Netherlands' westernmost province, Zeeland, large parts of which lie below sea level.
4. The coastal road was envisaged way back in June 2011, under the erstwhile UPA government, when a JOint Technical Committee was set up to study and make recommendations on the subject of coastal roads in Mumbai. Though concerns were expressed about relaxing CRZ norms, then Union envirnment minister Jayanthi Natarajan said she would put up the state's proposal at the June 24, 2013 meeting of the National Coastal Zone Management Authority. However, despite specific assurance from the minister, the National Coastal Zone Management Authority did not to include the coastal road plan in its agenda.
5. In a major boost for Mumbai's infrastructure, the Ministry of Environment and forests under Prakash Javadekar grants environment clearance for the coastal road. According to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the road will decongest Mumbai and will create 91 hectares of green spaces. The project is part of the Rs 60,000 crore transport infrastructure projects being undertaken by the state government.
