Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde on Thursday directed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to construct the 43-kilometre Versova-Virar sea link, as per news reports.
With the coastal road, Bandra-Worli sea link, the Bandra-Versova sea link, and the Versova-Virar extension, the travel time between Nariman Point and Virar will reduce from three hours it takes now to just one hour, a report in Times of India said.
CM Shinde directed officials to construct the sea link at the MMRDA’s 153rd authority meeting in Mumbai. The construction of the 43-km-long Versova-Virar sea link will help decongest the Western Express Highway as well as interior roads such as S V Road and Link Road.
As per a pre-feasibility study, the sea link is proposed to be built with connectors at Charkop, Uttan, Vasai, and Virar. The 4+4 lane main bridge will connect with Versova and Virar with 3+3 lane connectors at these four locations.
The link will have the capacity for 60,000 vehicles per day after it is opened. The one-way toll for a car from Versova to Virar is likely to be around Rs 1,000 in 2026.
The construction of the sea link was decided after looking at options given by the Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE) pre-feasibility report, which was ordered by the state government via Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) in 2019.
Instead of building a sea link along the coast, the MSRDC planned to extend the upcoming Bandra-Versova sea link till Virar to avoid complexities such as heavy damage to coastal environment and human habituation during or after the construction.
The link’s “pure construction” cost is pegged at Rs 21,000 crore, the Times of India report.
Other projects that are underway are the 22km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, the Versova-Bandra sea link, and the coastal road. Another sea link between Nariman Point and Colaba is also on the cards.
In the MMRDA meeting, it was also decided that a loan of Rs 30,473 would be taken from REC limited for metro construction projects. Officials also decided to make detailed project reports for various road projects in Mumbai, Thane.
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