The BMC has released its “final design“ for half he stretch of its ambitious coastal road project. Initially planned from Nariman Point, it will now stretch from Marine Lines to Kandivli.
The released plan is for the section between Marine Lines and Bandra. The plan for the remaining section may get deayed as there's uncertainty over the proposed road's alignment along Juhu Chowpatty .Also, the cost estimate of the entire project has been revised own from Rs.13,000 crore to Rs.11,000 crore. This is because the proposed road's length has been shortened from 33.2 km to 29.2 km. The drop in cost is mainly due to the shortening of the tunnel planned from Priyadarshini Park till the road's southern end.
For Juhu beach, four options are being explored: an underground tunnel, an undersea tunnel, a sea link, and a sea wall on the beach (after extending it artificially; the Juhu section of the coastal road will be laid on the wall; the wall will have gates to allow the movement of people on either side of the beach).
The state government wants to complete the project within a “time-bound manner“ and has assured all clearances to the BMC. But the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) wants the possibility of a tram line explored along the route before giving permission to the coastal road project.
The BMC is not keen on a tramway , officials said. A senior official said a tramway will need tracks, overhead equipment, and power substations, which the BMC doesn't want. The MCZMA has also suggested the planting of five times the number of mangroves that are to be hacked to make way for the road instead of the stipulated three times. BMC officials are negotiating the point. Additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee, who is looking after the project, had a meeting with representatives of 12 companies on Thursday on the matter of `expression of interest'. Civic chief Ajoy Mehta asked his officials to put the final route and engineering design for Marine Lines-Bandra in the public domain, including the BMC's website.
Activist Darryl D'Monte, who is opposed to the plan, said that while the BMC is claiming that the project's cost has reduced, by the time all permissions are in place it will increase.“The BMC is changing the alignments of the road's sections every now and then. The city's coast is one of its most precious assets and deserves to stay clear. As for Juhu beach, all four options are unacceptable.“
As per the released plan, the coastal road will start as a tunnel ahead of the Princess Street flyover at Marine Lines which will pass under Girgaum Chowpatty and Hanging Garden, and emerge near Priyadarshini Park. Then it will run through reclaimed land and silts. There will be three alignment interchanges till Bandra: after Priyadarashani Park, at Mahalaxmi and at Worli.
The BMC wants to undertake the work in phases. It has released the south Mumbai-Bandra plan first as in this section it hasn't faced much opposition from residents. A BMC official said the civic body will invite tenders after getting the MCZMA 's clearance. “We are keen to take all those citizens who are raising objections to the project into confidence.Therefore we plan to start work from the South Mumbai end, where resistance has been insignificant. This work will convince those living in the suburbs to understand the importance of the coastal road,“ said a senior civic official.
The project will be executed by the BMC (the coastal road's planning and executive authority), though earlier the state government wanted to carry it out. The government had formed a joint technical committee (JTC) to study the feasibility of the road. The panel suggested that it be constructed.
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