Mumbaikars Can Enjoy Traffic & Pollution Free Ride On MTHL From January 12

Mumbaikars will undoubtedly expect a much-needed relief in traffic jams and delays in travelling with the opening of the 21.8 km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), also known as Atal Setu, and also the first phase of the 29.2 km Mumbai Coastal Road from Worli to Marine, Drive (10 km).

MTHL will be thrown open for commuters from January 12; Mumbai Coastal Road’s first phase will be completed by January 31 and likely to be opened from February, while the second phase will be completed in May this year. The people travelling from MTHL will have to pay, including Rs 250 per trip for small car users, but there will be toll-free rides on Mumbai Coastal Road.

Incidentally, the MahaYuti comprising Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are set to play up these two crucial transport infrastructure projects in the coming Lok Sabha elections in a serious bid to lure the Mumbaikars reiterating its resolve to transform India’s financial capital and the adjoining Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) with the implementation of a slew of projects including metro rail, bridges, sea link costing over Rs 2 lakh crore. On its part, Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray will reach out to the voters, reminding them during the party-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the push was given for the implementation of MTHL and Mumbai Coastal Road.

The MahaYuti partners claim that the inauguration of the MTHL will completely transform NAVI Mumbai and Raigad district by opening up numerous opportunities for information technology, IT-enabled services, data centres, logistic and drug parks, aviation-related businesses, among others. The opening of the first phase of Navi Mumbai International Airport, slated for September instead of the earlier deadline of December, will further push the growth in these areas, leading to the decongestion of Mumbai and the creation of jobs.

It will be interesting to mention the MTHL project details here, as it has been dubbed India’s longest sea bridge. According to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the  21.8 km sea link connecting Mumbai and Navi Mumbai has been divided into three construction packages comprising 10.38 km (developed by L&T-IHI consortium), 7.807 km (Daewoo-Tata JV) and 3.613 km (L&T). MMRDA, which had proposed a per trip of Rs 500, which was later slashed to Rs 350 by the urban development and now to Rs 250 by the state cabinet, has estimated that 70,000 vehicles will travel per day from the sea link whose design life is projected for 100 years.

The Chief Minister’s Office has claimed that there will be one hour less travel time between South Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, but it will also help save fuel of 1 crore litres annually.

Nearly 1,77,903 metric tonnes (MT) of steel and 5,04,253 MT of cement were used to construct MTHL, whose average height is 15 meters with 1,089 pillars. The Chief Minister’s Office has claimed that the quantity of steel is equivalent to the weight of 500 Boeing aeroplanes and 17 times that of the Eiffel Tower.

Of the 21.8 km, 16.5 km is in sea and 5.5 km on land with a width of 27 meters. The design speed limit is 100 mph. There are three interchanges: Sewri, Ulwe and Chirle. The total project cost is Rs 17,854 crore, of which the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) loan portion is expected to be Rs.15,109 crore.

Here is the list of the largest/longest bridges in India

 Table Credit: BYJU’S