A six-year delay in planning has more than doubled the estimated cost of Sewri-Worli connectors that will connect the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link and Bandra Worli Sea Link. In 2013, when it was first planned, the estimated cost of the project was pegged at INR 500 crore, which has now jumped to INR 1,200 crore. In 2013, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) had planned to create an elevated connector between Sewri and Worli. The aim of the project was to give ease to motorists travelling from West to East stretch of the city.
This would also work as a connector to the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link Corridor (MTHL) and Bandra Worli Sea Link (BWSL) enabling a motorist coming from Navi Mumbai to directly travel to western part of the city via sea link. But when the connector was planned, the estimated cost of the project was only INR 490 crore. A senior officer from MMRDA said that in 2015 when the MMRDA had invited tenders for MTHL corridor on the public private partnership model, the project did not receive a good response. Following this, the MMRDA reviewed the MTHL project and planned it on the basis of cash-contract.
Till 2014, the MMRDA was aggressively working on the connector project. It applied for a Coastal Regulation Zone clearance and received bids from five construction contractors for its implementation. But due to delay in MTHL project the connector project was put on halt. Now, since the construction of the 22.5-km-long MTHL corridor had began, MMRDA has started working on the connector as well. In recent months, the MMRDA has pegged the estimated cost of the connector at INR 1,200 crore. A senior officer from MMRDA cited the GST and increase in prices of materials as main reasons for the increase in cost.
Source: The Indian Express
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