Mumbaikars hope that the new year of 2009 will be a good one for improvement of infrastructure in Mumbai as projects finally seem to be reaching completion. The Bandra Worli Sealink, an urban haat in Navi Mumbai on the lines of Dilli Haat, eight flyovers on the Western and Eastern express highways and 50 skywalks are expected to be ready in 2009.

Bandra Worli Sea Link

The long-awaited and much delayed Bandra Worli Sealink is expected to be commissioned by March 2009 against the earlier date of Jan 2009. The Rs 1306-crore link is 6 km long and commences from the Mahim interchange (intersection of the Western Express highway and S V Road at Bandra) and ends at Worli Sea Face in Worli. The flyover at Love Grove Junction in Worli, Cloverleaf Interchange at Mahim intersection, the solid approach road from Mahim interchange up to the start of the toll plaza at Bandra and the public promenade is more of less complete. Work on construction of cable-stayed bridges with viaduct approaches extending from Bandra to Worli, is also done, except part of the sea-link towards the Worli end. Prompted by concerns about traffic dispersal towards the Worli end of the link, the MSRDC has adopted several measures like construction of steel car decks, widening of roads and trimming landscapes on the dividing lanes and footpaths to accommodate the huge traffic expected to hit Worli. The landmark project will hopefully decongest the bottlenecks at Mahim causeway and reduce travel time to the city. According to many, the sealink will create bottlenecks at the Worli end. The delay in the rest of the sea link upto Nariman Point including links from Worli to Haji Ali, from Haji Ali to Priyadarshini Park, from Priyadarshini Park to Malabar Hills and Malabar Hills to Nariman Point will choke Worli and not really solve the problem.

Skywalks

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) expects to complete 50 skywalks at different railway stations across the city. The deadline for this is August 2009, however, the administration expects to complete them only by the end of 2009. While 34 skywalks are being built by MMRDA, 14 are being constructed by the MSRDC. Of the remaining two, the one at Kalyan station will be built by the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) and another will be built by Western Railways. An amount of Rs 600 crores has been allocated for construction of the skywalks. The MMRDA also plans to extend the skywalk between Bandra station (East) and Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) via Kalanagar, to Bharat Diamond Bores in BKC and Khar road junction from Anant Kanekar Marg. Some stations where skywalks will come up are CST, Churchgate, Vasai, Kalyan, Dombivali, Kanjurmarg, Borivali, Dadar, Byculla, Bandra, Parel, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Virar, Sion, Kurla, Andheri, Mahim, Ghatkopar, Mulund, Masjid, Chinchpokli, Matunga, GTB, Wadala, Sewri, Kings Circle, Malad, Goregaon, Lower Parel, Elphinston, Grant Road, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai Central, Charni Road, Kandivli, Thane, Vikhroli and a few others.

Flyovers

The flyovers expected to be completed and made operational in 2009 are:
The Santacruz airport junction flyover, part of which is already in use (from Kherwadi towards Andheri) and The Thakur Complex flyover is also expected to be opened by January End.
The flyover being constructed near Times of India building, Malad, will be completed on May 31. Hope they finish it before monsoon hits the city.
The Suman Nagar flyover on Eastern Express highway will be commissioned on June 30, The flyover Navghar junction on Eastern Express highway near Mulund (E) will be completed by November 2009.
Work on a flyover and a subway at Burfiwallah lane on SV Road, is also expected to be completed by the end of 2009. The two steel car decks at the Worli end of the sealink may get ready in 2009. Construction of the flyover between Tulpule square and Kings Circle and the one at Sion hospital junction is expected to be completed in 2009.

Urban Haat

The Navi Mumbai Haat, coming up on a four-acre land at Belapur, is 90 per cent complete and can be inaugurated anytime in 2009. The haat will be in the lines of the very popular Dilli Haat just that this haat will be miles away from Mumbai all the way in Kharghar, unlike the one in Dilli that is in the middle of the city.

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The Bandra-Worli Sealink will be ready by March next year and not January as stated earlier, said engineers who are putting the last touches to the bridge from the Worli-end.

Engineers of Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), the main contractor for the bridge, are undertaking a major engineering feat on the bridge’s connecter at Worli which leads on to Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Marg by using a special launching truss which they have got from China at a cost of Rs 23 crore.

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) officials, who are the implementing authority, said the bridge work was progressing well. The new minister for PWD, Vimal Mundada, was shown around the site on Friday.

The bridge has overshot its deadline by several years and now costs Rs 1634 crores.

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Mumbai’s Monorail is the latest ‘dream project’ in the list of many large projects that could make our life better and easier. Here are 13 things you would want to know about Mumbai’s Monorail Project and how it will impact us all:

1. India’s first commercial monorail will be built between Jacob circle and Chembur station via Wadala.
2. The 20 kms Mumbai monorail project is expected to carry nearly three lakh commuters who are currently taking buses, trains, taxis, auto rickshaws and private vehicles.
3. Mumbai Monorail should reduce 80,000 bus trips, 28,000 taxi and auto trips on a daily basis. Hopefully, 25,000 cars are expected to go off the city’s congested roads.
4. Over 22 lakh people living within 2 km on either side of the track will be benefited by the Mumbai Monorail.
5. First section of the Mumbai Monorail project between Jacob Circle and Wadala will be 12 km long. Passengers will be able to cover the distance in 25 minutes. This route of the monorail will have 11 stations.
6. Second section of the Mumbai Monorail between Wadala and Chembur will be 8.2 km. Passengers will be able to cover the distance in 19 minutes. The route will have 7 stations. In all, the distance of 20.2 km from Jacob Circle to Chembur will be covered in 44 minutes.
7. The monorail train will run at a speed of 32 km per hour and will be completely air-conditioned.
8. There will be a total of 18 monorail stations, each at a height of 11 metres above the ground / road level.
9. Initially, a monorail will be available every 4.5 minutes. The waiting period will subsequently be reduced to 3 minutes.
10. Capacity per carriage or compartment of the monorail is 150 persons (30% seating and 70% standing with occupancy as 6 persons per sq. mtrs.).
11. Each monorail with 4 coaches will have a capacity to accommodate 600 passengers.
12. Each monorail train will have the capacity to carry a passenger load of 8 - 10 buses.
13. Besides the Jacob Circle-Chembur track, a monorail line running from Malabar Hill to the Bandra-Kurla complex via the Haji Ali Dargah is also planned. The 3rd line would be from Thane to Bhiwandi via Kalyan. The next phase would have a monorail track from Chembur to Govandi via Mahul that may get extended to Vashi,Navi Mumbai. The 4th track is planned Lokhandwala Complex to Kanjurmarg via Oshiwara.

We Mumbaikars hope that this project get executed on time as it will help decongest our roads and maybe even make the air a bit more fresher. We hope that it does not get into disputes like the Banda Worli Sea Link did and was delayed endlessly. Hopefully, with the Bandra Worli Sea link, the huge investments by the railways in expanding the current rail system of Western Railways and Central Railways, the just started Mumbai Metro and now the Mumbai Monorail Project, Mumbai will finally become a much more livable city with less traffic and cleaner air.

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It seems that we will be able to zip through the Bandra-Worli Sea-Link 15 days before the scheduled deadline of January 31, 2009. Isnt that good news!!

The work of the Bandra Worli Sea link which comes to a stop during monsoons started with a bang well before monsoon got over. Government agencies like the Mumbai Port Trust helped by giving permission to HCC to move ahead before monsoon gets over. Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) have begun their last leg of construction activities - after a gap of almost three months - by placing a concrete segment towards the Worli end of the sea-link. Government directives, annually issued by the maritime and port authorities, stipulate all boating operations have to be stalled between June 1 and September 30 every year. However, the MSRDC and the HCC appealed to the government and urged for permission to start early construction work on the sea.

The 4.7-km-long Bandra Worli Sea Link, along with the approaches and flyovers, is costing around Rs 1,640 crore. The HCC is spending Rs 25 crore for the last leg of operation that is the completion of the 200-metre Worli end of the first four-lane Bandra Worli Sea Link.

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To make the Bandra Worli Sea Link a landmark and a tourist attraction, there are suggestions to construction of a clock tower, a lighthouse, fountains, an amphitheatre, Saptadweep pillars and murals depicting the history of Mumbai’s seven islands, and landscaping. MSRDC plans to develop the area towards the Worli and Bandra ends as a tourist spot with aesthetic sit-outs, laser shows, feature walls, and places for meditation next to jogging tracks. Sounds too good to be believed looking at the state of affairs on either side of the bridge. Maybe some place can be provided to the endless couples who currently line up near the Worli and Bandra end of the bridge to give them the privacy and reduce embarrasement to all.

Hopefully if the place is well lit and beautifully landscaped Bandra Worli Sea Link would be a symbol of modern Mumbai. Bajaj Electricals received the order to illuminate the Bandra-Worli sea-link project. So Bajaj ki Roshni will light up the bridge!! Can you believe that the lighting contract is worth 9 Crores!! Thats lots of bulbs…

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As a Bandraite I have mixed feelings as the completion date of the Bandra Worli Sea Link comes closer (Dec 08). It’s a great project and an engineering marvel and will probably become a symbol of modern Mumbai. It will change the way we Mumbaikar keep wondering when things will really improve and when we will really move toward the dreams of building a city comparable to Shanghai and being the Financial Capital of this part of the world.

What will be the impact of this much delayed sea link on the lives of us common people living in the suburbs of Mumbai is anyone’s guess. Sometime I wonder in awe about the huge project and at actually being able to build a bridge over the sea. Obviously, it was impossible to build a connection to the “city” to accommodate the endless traffic by widening the roads. The roads in Mumbai are now at possibly the end of widening. We have taken over all the walkways and converted then to roads so where is the question on more widening. So some ‘smart’ guy obviously thought of making the bridge over the sea so that it does not disturb any “celebrity” who does not want a flyover outside their window.

Well, now that we can see the end of the tunnel and the bridge might get completed in the next few months, will it REALLY make a difference or will it just shift the epicenter of the traffic choke to some other place. I sometime shudder to think what it would be like when we will get off the Bandra Worli Sea Link on the Bandra Reclamation side or the Worli Sea Face side. Both sides have small exits that have construction on both sides and already choked traffic. So if you land on the Bandra side and have to get into Bandra, you have to go through the small lanes near Lilavati Hospital and Mount Carmel Church. This road can hardly handle the traffic today and evening traffic jams can take 30 mins to go past a 500 meter stretch so what would happen when more traffic pours into these already choked points.

Now lets look at the Worli Side. Unless the Police and Maharashtra Govt are planning a miracle, there would be a huge choke as soon as we land on the Worli Side. The entire traffic that currently uses the Mahim Causeway and Shivaji Park - Caddel Road belt to reach Worli will use this bridge and come speeding down the sea link and land in Worli where the exits are going to be choked again at the Worli Dairy end.

So I hope someone will use their creativity to ensure we don’t create more problems for ourselves than really solve. Also, the last thing we what is more traffic jams and a promise that these will go away after the link from Worli to Nariman Point is ready!!!

Will the solution to the current traffic problems will really be the sea links or will it be higher capacity public transport system is probably a topic for another blog….

Official Video of Bandra Worli Sea Link. More Video