A team from Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has come to Mumbai in order conduct a study on the 22-km-long Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) connecting Sewri with Nhava Sheva, which is proposed to be the end of the MTHL. The report is expected to be available by December. This is one of the most ambitious projects of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA).
JICA had earlier agreed to fund 80 per cent of the estimated project cost — '11,000 crore — and remaining 20 per cent was proposed to be made available by the Centre.
This comes in after the MMRDA was made to apply for fresh permissions from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) and ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) as the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had suspended the CRZ clearance in which it questioned the way MCZMA and MoEF gave clearance to the project.
A senior MMRDA official, on the conditions of anonymity, said, “A team from JICA had visited Mumbai last year too and had conducted a study and also held meetings with senior MMRDA officials, but now after the NGT suspended the CRZ clearance for the MTHL project JICA has considered a re-study of the social, financial and environmental implications of the project to avoid any obstacles in the near future.”
The state government is keen on the implementation of the project because MTHL will increase and enhance connectivity to the planned Navi Mumbai International Airport.
Dilip Kawathkar, deputy metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, said, “JICA will come out with an internal assessment report by the end of next month and will also conduct meeting on the same with state and central government officials in the month of January, to discuss on the assessment report of the same.”
MTHL is a 22-km-long cable stay bridge and it will be the second longest sealink in the world after the 42-km link between Qingdao to Huandao in China.
