23.6.08

My Goodness ! A Decade later

Came across an article on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link dated 19th October 1998.Here we are here..nearly 10 years later..and the whole thing sound so familiar...


Plans for Trans-Harbour link inch forward
Express News Service
MUMBAI, Oct 19: Plans for the Rs 3,700-crore, 21 km-long, Sewree-Nhava Trans Harbour Link are finally inching forward following an assurance from the Ministry of Surface Transport (MOST) to the state government over the construction of an alternative oil terminal.
The 21-km bridge, which equals the distance between Churchgate and Andheri stations, includes a six-lane highway and two railway lines to connect the city to the mainland. Town planners agree that Mumbai's linear profile has been responsible for the city growing only northwards. The trans-harbour link will allow motor vehicles and trains to whizz to mainland Maharashtra in less than 30 minutes, thus enabling Mumbai to develop eastwards.
The last hurdle in the path of this ambitious project was an objection from the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT), which demanded that the proposed bridge be raised so that it would not have to shut down its old oil terminal at Pirpau. The MOST has now suggested an alternative, saying the major oil terminal being built atthe Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) will finally render the Pirpau terminal redundant.
The MbPT has not responded to the ministry's proposal and is awaiting a report being prepared on the viability and potential of the Pirpau jetty before decided whether to give it up.
When the port trust had objected to the path of the proposed bridge, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said remodelling would involve an additional expense of Rs 400 crore. The steep gradient would also scuttle the rail link on the bridge.
The new oil terminal at JNPT will take around three years to complete. However, MSRDC Managing Director R C Sinha says the MSRDC will commence work on the bridge anyway, as soon as it receives the requisite clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF). ``We shall start building the bridge without touching the Pirpau jetty,'' he explains.
The MSRDC submitted the project's financial and technical feasibility report to the MOEF in July. A public hearing underthe Environment Protection Act will be held by the Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board (MPCB) some time next month. Project approval will hinge on the outcome of the public hearing and clearance from the MOEF.
Construction, which will take around four years to complete, is expected to begin a year after the structure is designed, Sinha told Express Newsline.
Here's how the MSRDC hopes to complete the mammoth bridge in record-breaking time, at least in India. The working drawings will be so detailed, giving the engineers a kind of stone-by-stone approach to the structure. At least four contractors will start work at four different places simultaneously, drastically reducing completion time.
Meanwhile, the MSRDC, which has already raised Rs 1,200 crore for building 50 flyovers in the city, will go about raising the funds for the Trans-Harbour Link. It will seek funds from the financial institutions only after it gets a firm approval for the project.
The project has been in the pipeline for nearly25 years, with the staggering cost being the main hiccup. In 1980, the link was estimated to cost around Rs 700 crore, which has since increased fivefold. Crores of rupees have already been spent on the project without the foundation stone being laid, courtesy the several committees appointed to study the project.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

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