MMRDA launches longest sea-bridge on ₹14,260-cr project

The Maharashtra government has launched construction work for the country's longest sea-bridge on the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project involving an investment of ₹14,260 crore at the Mumbai-end in Sewri. The CM unveiled the first girder for the mega project. The MTHL, the second road link cutting through the Arabian Sea in the island city's eastern coast, will connect the mainland with Sewri and Chirle, respectively. It is expected to be completed by 2022 and slash travel time between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai from 100-odd minutes to barely 30 minutes. The project is being financed by a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It is being executed in three packages by three contractors. The work on the six-lane plus two emergency lanes, and a 27-metre wide bridge will attract over 70,000 vehicles plying on it daily when thrown open to traffic. The total bridge will be 22 km long of which 16.5 km will run in the sea, with interchanges on both sides, making it the longest sea-bridge in India, and second after the Rajiv Gandhi Bandra Worli Sea Link, which is now being extended up to Andheri. MTHL will be connected to the new international airport coming up in Navi Mumbai, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, the country's first expressway, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Mumbai-Goa Highway and provide faster access to north Maharashtra and southern India.