The state government’s recent approval to extend the Bandra-Worli sea link up to Versova has left municipal officials perplexed. The confusion stems from the fact that the municipality was also at work on a coastal road that was to run from South Mumbai up to Kandivli. While the state government has approved the sea link extension, it has not given any clarity over the coastal plan.
Between Bandra and Versova, the sea link extension is likely to overlap with the coastal road project.
While the municipality has begun the initial legwork for the coastal road project, the state government is yet to clarify what will be nature of the coastal road especially since these two infrastructure projects will run parallel along a better part of the route.
A senior civic official said on the condition of anonymity that the government is yet to clarify us whether the coastal road project should be tweaked in the wake of the extension to the sea link or whether the municipality should go ahead with its original plan.
The sea link extension will be undertaken by Maharashtra State Roads Development Corporation at an estimated cost of Rs4,045 crore. The 35.6km coastal road stretch is estimated to cost twice as much.
