Mumbai: Partial opening of coastal road likely this year

BMC may open the part from Princess Street flyover to Worli in November

The civic body may start opening the coastal road in phases from November 2023, officials said. With the approval to the revised design for increasing the gap between two pillars near Worli Koliwada pending, the completion of the project will take another six months, they added. The delay would also cost the BMC additional Rs 650 crore. Though most parts of the bridge are almost near completion, the interconnection between the coastal road and the Bandra-Worli sea link is in the nascent stage and won’t be done before the deadline of November.

“As we dropped one pillar from the plan, there was a need to change the design. The revised design has not received the final nod yet. The material and technique will change as per the design, hence the work cannot be completed within the stipulated deadline,” said an engineer assigned on the coastal road project. The remaining part of the coastal road—from Princess Street flyover to Worli—will be completed by November and may even be opened to traffic, he said. The interchange will be open late on.

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Fisherfolk from Worli Koliwada in 2016 objected to the short distance between the pillars of the coastal road, citing difficulty in navigation of fishing boats. After years of back and forth, a joint committee comprising experts from Goa’s National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and representatives of the fishing community was set up in October 2022 to address the concern. Finally, in December 2022, the BMC informed the fisherfolk’s association that one pillar at Cleveland Bunder won’t be erected, which would therefore, leave a space of 120 metre instead of 60 metre.

The BMC started building the coastal road in 2018 and has completed 73 per cent of the work so far. Currently, the work of reclamation of sea wall, piles, piers, deck slabs, monopile construction, pedestrian underway, tunnel boring, etc. are in progress. The BMC has organised a photo exhibition showcasing various stages of the construction of the-long coastal road.

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