Bhayandar-Naigaon sea-link expected by 2022: MMRDA

If things go according to plan, the much-awaited 5.3 km-long Bhayandar-Naigaon sea-link will be ready for use by 2022. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the implementing agency of the project, expects to float tenders for the same by April.

The 12-metre-wide sea-link will run parallel to the Western Railway bridge between Bhayandar and Naigaon. However, the project was approved in 2007 and the estimated cost of the scheme at that time was `100 crore. But the project has been delayed because of environment clearances and protest from the locals at Panju island, the region over which the sea-link will pass. The estimated cost of the project has now gone up to `876 crore.

“We are expecting that the detailed project report (DPR) being prepared by STUP consultants will be out in the first week of February. In the meantime, we will also apply for seeking environment clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) as the bridge will pass over Vasai creek and Panju islands,” said an MMRDA official.

The executive committee of the MMRDA had in 2013 appointed Stup Consultants Private Limited as consultants for construction of the sea-link.

Similarly, a geotechnical survey will also be carried out. The survey will include testing of soil underwater and to determine important factors to be considered while carrying out the actual work on the project. “The tenders for the geotechnical survey will also be floated once the DPR is out,” added the MMRDA official.

Dilip Kawathkar, joint project director, MMRDA, said, “If these things are in place, the actual work on the project can be started by the end of 2016 or start 2017. We are anticipating that the project can be finished in three years, but looking at the complexity it will be safe to assume that the sea-link will be ready for use by 2022.”

Currently, people travelling to Naigaon, Vasai and Virar from Bhayandar take the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway-8. But after the new bridge is constructed, the travel distance will get shorter and the travelling experience for motorists will also improve as the National Highway is full of trucks and buses, which makes driving difficult.