The first phase of Mumbai's ambitious coastal road, from Marine Drive to Worli, will be operational the end of January 2024, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday. Speaking at an event, Shinde called Maharashtra a growth engine which has the most number of infrastructure projects in the country. The coastal road, being constructed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), proposes to connect the Marine Drive area in south Mumbai to Kandivali, a western suburb, via the existing Bandra Worli Sea Link. It is expected to ease Mumbai's northbound traffic.
The first phase of the project is a 10.58 km stretch between Marine Drive and Worli in South Mumbai.The Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) project from Sewri to Nhava Sheva will be ready by this month, the chief minister said, adding that it will help citizens cover a distance of 22 km in 15 minutes, which currently takes about two hours.The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is the implementing authority for the six-lane MTHL project, financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)."After our government came to power, we reopened all the projects that were delayed," Mr Shinde said.