Even as civic body is moving to phase-II of GMLR project, it is yet to zero in on an experienced contractor for the tunnel work below the national park, without which the flyovers will be of no use
The GMLR will connect the Western Express Highway near Goregaon to Mulund. Representation pic
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned to start work on the two flyovers as part of the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project at a cost of Rs 532 crore, but unless the underground tunnel is made, these flyovers will be of no use. However, to the dismay of the BMC and citizens, the tunnel work for GMLR has again run into difficulty as the civic body is struggling to find an experienced and eligible contractor to do the ambitious work that runs under the SGNP.
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In phase-I of the project, BMC took up road widening work near the Western Express Highway towards Film City as well as repairs on the Nahur bridge.
It was also aiming to finalise the contractor for the tunnel work, which is estimated to cost around Rs 6,000 crore. Now, as part of phase-II, the civic body will move on to the construction of the flyovers.
The BMC planned the 13.65-km GMLR to ease traffic on the city’s east-west connectors. This project will be the fourth such connector. The existing road from the Western Express Highway to Film City in Goregaon will be connected to Amar Nagar in Mulund West and further to Eastern Express Highway, through the two flyovers and the tunnel.
According to the civic officials, both tunnels are around 4.7-kms long and will pass below the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) about 25 metres to 200 metres underground. The estimates given for the south-bound tunnel is Rs 3,205 crore, the north side tunnel is pegged at Rs 3,020 crore. Due to the sensitive forest area, the contractor has to be an experienced one who is thorough as there is no scope for any error and thus the selection process is taking time.
“Earlier, we received responses for tunnels, but we have not yet decided to roll out our request for quotations yet. We do not want to hurry and appoint someone who is not qualified for the job. In the meanwhile, we will start work on the flyovers and go ahead with phase-two of the project,” said a senior civic official on the request of anonymity.
Rs 532-cr
Estimated cost for the two flyovers
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