Mumbai: BMC to soon float a tender for its costliest project so far

Work is on in full swing on the coastal road at Marine Drive. The VDLR is the second phase of this road. File pic/Sameer Markande

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will soon float a tender for the high-speed corridor between north and south Mumbai. The cost of the project is around Rs 35,112 crore including taxes and land acquisition. It will be the BMC's costliest project so far. The VDLR will connect Versova to Dahisar, and then to the proposed Mira-Bhayandar connector. The length of the road is around 22.3 km with four lanes on each side. There will also be a connector to the Goregaon-Mulund Link road at Malad Mindspace.

According to a BMC official, the VDLR is the second phase of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP). BMC is constructing a coastal road from Nariman Point in south Mumbai to Worli. The Maharashtra State Road Development is constructing its Bandra to Versova sea link.

The VDLR is divided into six stages which include elevated roads, cable-stayed bridges and tunnels. The project will be completed in 4 years after the appointment of the contractor. According to the BMC document about the project, the road will start from Versova's Nana Nani Park and its first phase will end at Bangur Nagar, Goregaon which will be a 4.5 km long elevated road, bridge and interchange at an approximate cost of R6,157 crore.

From Bangurnagar to Mind Space, Malad another 1.66 km-long elevated road and a bridge to the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road which will be 4.46 km long will cost Rs 5,308 crore. There will also be a tunnel between Mind Space and Charkop. The north bound tunnel is to be 3.90 km-long at a cost of Rs 5,904 crore while the South bound tunnel will also be 3.90 km at a cost of Rs 6,032 crore. The BMC will appoint separate contractors for these tunnels. The fourth phase will be between Charkop and Gorai at 3.78 km-long with an elevated road, bridge and interchange which will cost Rs 6,085 crore.

‘Tenders invited in phases'

The final phase is Gorai to Dahisar, a 3.69 km road that will cost Rs 5,597 crore. "We are inviting tenders in 6 phases for the smooth implementation of the project," said a BMC official. The estimated total construction cost of the project is Rs 16,612 crore. Taxes, various charges, cost of land for the junkyard, etc. will cost an additional around Rs 17,181 crore and added land acquisition cost will be around R1,319 crore, according to the document. "At Dahisar, this road will be connected to the proposed Dahisar-Mira Road link road. So it will connect Mira Road to the southernmost part of the city, Nariman Point," the official said.

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