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The Maharashtra government on Saturday received a major boost after the Netherlands government agreed to provide technical support for the development of the Rs 9,000-crore Mumbai coastal road and metro rail projects. The memorandum of understanding on this was signed in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Mumbai.
The MoU has been signed ahead of a meeting regarding the environment clearance and approval under the Coastal Zone Regulations 2011 for the coastal road project between Fadnavis and the Union minister of environment and forests Prakash Javadekar slated for June 8.
The project report on combining the 35 km coastal road between Nariman Point and Dahisar and the Mumbai Metro III Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ corridor is expected to be ready in the next three months with the involvement of experts from the Netherlands.
Fadnavis told Business Standard, “'The project cost of Rs 9,000 crore was estimated two years ago. Once the project report is finalised, this figure may be revised. The government has no objection to the development of coastal road project by the Shiv Sena-BJP controlled BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation.” He said that the Netherlands government, given its experience of sustainable land reclamation from the sea, was keen to share its knowledge in this field.
Fadnavis clarified that the objective is how Mumbai can benefit from stake holder inclusion and early contractor involvement during the development of coastal road. Rutte said the Netherlands had undertaken similar projects within the country and also in other parts while keeping in mind the protection of environment and the interests of all stake holders.
Fadnavis said combining the coastal road and Mumbai Metro III line involves linking the new road with metro connections, and this could require changes to the existing infrastructure. The metro could be connected to newly planned stations of line III by underground tunnels equipped with moving walkways like in airports.
"Apart from drastically reducing travel time between north and south Mumbai, such a strip of land in the sea has many other advantages," he noted.
