Coastal Road (Mumbai)

The Coastal Road is a proposed 29.2-km freeway that would to run along Mumbai's western coastline connecting Marine Lines in the south to Kandivali in the north. The estimated cost of the project is ₹150 billion (US$2.1 billion). And the eight-lane road is expected to be completed in four years (2022).

History

The Coastal Road is a proposed alternative to the Western Freeway. In 2011, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan asked the MSRDC to think of building coastal roads instead of capital intensive sea links. He appointed a Joint Technical Committee, comprising experts and officials, in 2012 under the then Municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar to study the plan to build a coastal road. In its report, submitted in January 2012, the committee advised the government to build a 35.6 km coastal freeway from Manora MLA Hostel at Nariman Point to Kandivali to ease traffic congestion. The project was estimated to cost ₹100 billion (US$1.4 billion) and would have consisted of roads built on reclaimed land as well as stilts, bridges and tunnels. The committee was against building any more sea links and pointed out that the coastal road would help save ₹120 billion (US$1.7 billion) of public money.^[1] The 35.6 km road was proposed to begin near Manora (MLA Hostel), with entry and exit points at Jagannath Bhosale Marg, move along Marine Drive and lead into a tunnel that would go under Malabar Hill and exit on the other side of Priyadarshini Park. This stretch was proposed to be built on reclaimed portions up to Haji Ali, and then to Lala Lajpatrai Road in Worli. The coastal freeway would then be connected to the Worli arm of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link by a bridge. On the Bandra side, the coastal road skirting the fort would connect the coastal freeway up to Chimbai village, where a bridge was proposed. A road by reclamation of mangroves, further north, or a road on stilts, and an elevated road between Oshiwara and Malad was also proposed. The proposed freeway would have had 18 entry and exit points along its route.^[2] The project is estimated to cost ₹80 billion (US$1.1 billion)—₹100 billion (US$1.4 billion), and take 5 years to complete.^[3] Critics of the freeway opposed it due to the reclamation required and have also cited possible environmental degradation along the coast.^[4][5]

Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms in India disallow reclamation of land. Construction of the coastal freeway would require a relaxation of the CRZ norms, as certain sections are proposed on reclaimed land.^[6] The change in norms can only be done through an amendment to the law by the Central Government. After discussing the project on 10 April 2013, the Maharashtra coastal zone management authority (MCZMA), the state's apex environment body, urged the Centre to amend the CRZ notification to permit "reclamation for roads". The MCZMA stated that reclamation should not be permitted for any other development activity and that the high tide line must not be altered. The MCZMA also argued that the ring road would serve as a protection wall from inland flooding, besides being a vital road link for decongesting traffic.^[2] During a meeting between Prithviraj Chavan and Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan on 20 June 2013, Natarajan expressed concerns about the implications of relaxing CRZ norms, on creeks and mangroves. However, the minister stated that she would "put the state's proposal at the next meeting [24 June 2013] of the National Coastal Zone Management Authority".^[4] However, despite specific assurance from the minister, the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) decided not to include the coastal road plan in their next meeting's agenda.^[6]

During the 2014 assembly elections, the BJP promised to implement the project if elected. On 6 June 2015, the State Government signed an MoU with the Dutch Government for technical co-operation in implementing the project. The Netherlands is known for its environment-friendly reclamation and the use of the sea. On 8 June 2015, the coastal road project received clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.^[3][7]

Initial work on the project began on 26 November 2016. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray stated that a survey of the soil at the seabed was being undertaken. The foundation stone for the project for the coastal road project is scheduled for monsoon 2017.^[8]

Construction

The Coastal Road will be built into two phases. It will have 8 lanes, including 2 lanes dedicated for a bus rapid transit system.^[9]

In the first phase of the project, is a 9.98 km section from Princess Street Flyover at Marine Lines to the Worli end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL), and is expected be completed by 2019. A tunnel beginning at Chowpatty will link to Priyadarshini park, after which the coastal road will pass through the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.^[10] The phase will include 4 interchanges at Amarsons Garden at Breach Candy, Haji Ali, Worli and Bandra. The BMC planned to shortlist bidders for the project by the end of March 2017, but the process was delayed.^[11]

The project will require the reclamation of around 164 hectares of land.^[12]

Work on the second phase, a 19.22 road between the Bandra end of the BWSL and Kandivali, will begin after the completion of the first phase. The phase includes the 9.5 km Bandra-Versova Sea Link.^[9]

A further extension of the road to Ahmedabad has also been proposed.^[8]

References