CM launches 1st girder of MTHL: To be India’s longest sea bridge, connect Mumbai-Navi Mumbai
The MTHL is expected to be ready by 2022 and estimated to cut travel time between Mumbai & Navi Mumbai from the present 100 minutes to around 30 minutes
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday launched the first girder for the country’s longest sea bridge, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL).
The CM launched the girder at the Mumbai-end of the MTHL in Sewri in the presence of senior Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) officials and other dignitaries.
The 1,000-tonne girder was set-off by a bigger ‘launching girder’, marking the start of the civil work.
The MTHL will connect the mainland with Sewri in Mumbai to Chirle in Navi Mumbai. The project is expected to be completed by 2022 and estimated to cut travel time between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai from the present 100 minutes to around 30 minutes.
The Rs 14,260 crore project is being financed by a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Once ready, the six-lane and 27-metre wide bridge will be used by an estimated 70,000 vehicles daily.
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.
The MTHL will be connected to the upcoming international airport in Navi Mumbai, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Mumbai-Goa Highway and provide faster access to north Maharashtra and southern India.
The project was conceived over 45 years ago but only received clearance in 2012 from then Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the MTHL in December 2016.
