FADNAVIS’S PROJECT

GADKARI’S PROJECT

As CM announces Centre’s in-principle green nod for Coastal Road project, Union transport minister springs a surprise with a ‘tunnel road’ idea.It was a day of two contrasting announcements by two BJP heavyweights from the state. Even as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was announcing in the assembly that the Union government has agreed to set aside the 2011 Environmental Protection Act notification that had been a roadblock for the coastal road, reports surfaced that Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari had proposed a series of tunnel roads for the city.Answering a debate on the governor’s speech in the legislative assembly on Monday, Fadnavis had said, “The coastal road project was conceptualised by the Congress government and was a dream project of Prithviraj Chavan, but the Congress government at the Centre could not amend the 2011 notification.”Taunting former CM Prithviraj Chavan, who was present in the assembly, Fadnavis said his own government at the Centre did not pay heed to him. “But we spoke to the Union environment minister, who has given an in-principle approval to the coastal road project. Today, 60 per cent of the traffic passes through the Western Express Highway and there is a need to decongest it and this 34 km coastal road is the answer.”Around the same time, news came that Gadkari had proposed a tunnel ring road that will be linked to the proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai highway. Gadkari said the cost of the tunnel ring road project, as per initial estimates, will be around Rs 90,000 crore.“To improve connectivity and at the same time ensure that the scenic beauty of the city is not disturbed while creating bridges and roads, we are considering building a tunnel road that would go up to the proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai highway,” said Gadkari.Gadkari said the idea of the tunnel road came to him when he visited Holland. “I saw the tunnel connecting Notre Dame to Belgium and this gave me the idea of constructing a tunnel road in the city,” he said.One section of the proposed tunnel road will start from the Mahim Creek and connect the Bandra-Worli Sealink on the western fringe and Nariman Point in the south. Another section will begin from Sewri on the eastern periphery of the island city and extend undersea to connect the JNPT at Nhava Seva across the bay and will also connect the Mumbai Port on the eastern cost. The road will join the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway from Bhayandhar on the north-western periphery of the city, Gadkari said.Gadkari added that bringing down the cost is a priority and accordingly the government will be appointing a consultant for this. “We are studying ways to ensure the cost comes down to at least Rs 60,000 crore,” he said. (The coastal road will cost Rs 10,000 crore in comparison)When asked about Gadkari’s plan, CM Fadnavis told Mirror: “Gadkariji wants to connect the rest of the areas with tunnel roads for Mumbai and also wants one tunnel road on the eastern part of Mumbai for better connectivity. Feasibility studies will be done now.”However, people involved in the coastal road project were more candid. They said no one in the BMC or the MMRDA or the state has been briefed about Gadkari's tunnel plan for Mumbai. They said considering the byzantine network of utilities and proposed Metro routes, there was no way a tunnel road can be constructed in the city.“There are three to four underground Metro routes that are planned for Mumbai,” said a BMC officer on condition of anonymity. “It will be really difficult to have such tunnel roads if the Metros are going to come up. Besides, there are underground water, sewage and gas pipes across Mumbai. How can one have tunnel roads? It will be really difficult. Besides, one needs proper ventilation. In Mumbai, where space is a problem, I don’t think we have enough space for ventilation systems for these tunnels.” With Agency inputsCoastal RoadNariman Point to Kandivali, 35 kmRs 10,000 croreIn-principle green nod from CentreBrihanmumbai Municipal CorporationTunnel roadsMahim Creek-Sea Link-Nariman Point. Sewri-Nhava Sheva via Mumbai Port Trust, likely to be 40 kmRs 90,000 croreJust-born ideaNot decided