Mumbai: Red signal for Shiv Sena, BJP flagship projects

In what comes as a huge blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena, two of their flagship projects namely the Rs 12,000-crore coastal road and Rs 7,500-crore Bandra-Versova Sea Link got a red signal from HC recently after being locked in a long court battle. The High Court rulings in the midst of the general elections may hamper poll prospects of six candidates of Mahayuti in the city, fear Sena and BJP leaders.

On April 26, the High Court quashed permissions granted to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) for construction of a casting yard on Juhu beach for the Bandra-Versova Sea Link project, observing that it would adversely affect the coastal stretch. The work on another ambitious project — the coastal road project — will remain stalled as the Bombay High Court, on April 23, has directed the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to stop all reclamation work and maintain the status quo until June 3.

The high court rulings dealt a body blow to Shiv Sena and BJP as they fear that strong opposition from the fishing community and residents of the adjoining areas may hamper poll prospects. Both BJP and Shiv Sena leaders have already swung into action to pacify the agitated fishing community in particular with an assurance that their interests will be protected while implementation of these two projects which are expected to ease city's traffic.

BMC and MSRDC officers told DNA that they are considering to move Supreme Court challenging HC orders, and are currently in discussion with the lawyers on the same. However, by the time a decision will be taken, polling in six constituencies will be over on April 29.

The Coastal Road and Bandra-Versova Sea Link projects are part of the saffron government's plan to strengthen the city's transport infrastructure with an investment of over Rs 1.60 lakh crore. Shiv Sena, before its alliance was officially announced in the second week of March, had unilaterally started the construction work for the coastal road project. However, after the formal announcement of seat sharing, both BJP and Shiv Sena took the credit for the launch of the projects. These projects are expected to be commissioned by 2022-23.