The last great hurdle facing the builders of the Eastern Freeway, the 22-km long roadway from Colaba to Ghatkopar, has been overcome. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has obtained clearance to build a road on stilts across 700 metres of salt pan land. This is part of the Anik Panjrapol Link Road and will connect the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) toll gate to Wadala Truck terminal Road. Additional commissioner, MMRDA, Ashwini Bhide said that they have started work on the missing link of the road, which is part of the larger freeway. “We had obtained the CRZ and the environmental clearances. The salt pan issue was the only hurdle left. The Group of Ministers (GoM) in Delhi, in charge of salt pan land, had approved of the road three months ago and asked the Salt Commissioner to issue a No-Objection Certificate (NOC), which took some time,” she added. MMRDA officials said that the roadway will cost Rs 531 crore. The Colaba to Anik stretch will run through the MbPT and will be 11-km long. The remaining part up to Ghatkopar, too, is 11 km. Public transport and intercity buses to Pune, Goa, Bangalore and areas in Konkan will use the Eastern Freeway and the trans-harbour link to avoid the congested roads of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. This would save an hour of commute as well as costs in terms of fuel. BEST’s express services for the eastern suburbs and Navi Mumbai will also use the freeway. MMRDA officials said that getting permissions was not easy. “The MMRDA had to approached the Salt Department, Jaipur, department of industrial policy and promotion, and the GoM for the clearance,” said an official.
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