Japan agrees to fund Rs 17,750-cr Mumbai trans-harbour link

Cost goes up as Japan wants two rescue lanes, more steel added to project

Maharashtra government and Japan have finalised an agreement under which the Japanese will fund 80% of the Rs 17,750 crore trans-harbour project connecting Mumbai and Navi Mumbai and two more lanes into the six-lane project.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Japan International Cooperation Agency agreed at the Make-In India event on Saturday that the project will add two rescue lanes and convert 4 km stretch of the project into steel-only structure instead of earlier plan of cement and concrete bridge. Conversion to steel will add Rs 4,000 crore more to project but help the project to complete early.

Calling of bids for the project will now start as early as March and by October the project will be awarded to construction companies on cash contract basis. Of the Rs 17,750 crore, JICA will give a loan of Rs 15,000 crore at  a very low interest rate. The rest of the project will be funded by local government.

The 22-km project is a road link meant to ease congestion and reduce pollution in the city. The Maharashtra government wants to complete the crucial link by 2019.

The project has already received the environment clearance and once finished would be the biggest road bridge over sea in India. The EAC has asked the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to strictly implement a Rs 335-crore environment management plan comprising 15 components including environment monitoring during construction, compensatory mangrove restoration, installation of noise barriers, and mitigation of marine water.

The MMRDA had earlier assured the environment ministry that funding would not be a constraint for any mitigation measures proposed by the Bombay Natural History Society as environment issues would be given top priority.

EAC said the project implementation should be carried out in accordance with the provisions of CRZ Notification, 2011 without affecting the coastal ecology of the area including flora and fauna. This apart, MMRDA has been asked to obtain all permissions from the authorities concerned prior to commencement of the project and observe all safety requirements onshore and offshore.

It would be binding on MMRDA to compensate the loss of mangroves by plantation of five times the mangroves destroyed during construction.