First a court battle over clearances and now the COVID-19 pandemic have led to immense delay in the work on the Coastal Road project with the authorities concerned now saying that it would be completed only by July 2023, instead of the earlier deadline of 2022 end. While the work of installing the tunnel boring machine (TBM) has been started, excavation of the tunnels would start in January next year and take 18 months to be completed. However, till now only 20 per cent work of the project is complete.

The 10.5 km-long Coastal Road project was started in October 2018 and formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (then Shiv Sena chief) in December the same year.