Underground road to link Borivali and Thane

Mumbai: PWD minister Eknath Shinde on Friday announced that an underground road would be developed to connect Thane and Borivali.

During a press conference at the Bandra office of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), Mr Shinde said, “This project will reduce travel time between Thane and Borivali. There will be an underground tunnel.”

The MSRDC has sought permission from the forest department for the 10-km-long road.

A MSRDC officer said that there will be two tunnels of three lanes and that the tunnel will be 15 metres wide. Owing to the underground road, the turn at Ghodbunder road can be avoided.

Currently, it takes nearly two to three hours by road to travel between Thane and Borivali.

Upon completion of the project, the nearly 21km stretch will take only 15 minutes to cover. The road will also have a 1km long link road. The 10.20 km tunnel will be constructed under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, and will start from Tikuji Ni Wadi (Thane) and connect with the western expressway at Borivali.

The expected cost of the project is Rs 8,900 crore.

The MSRDC officer said, “The project has got a nod from the environment department. It has been submitted for approval from the forest department.”

MSRDC sources said that presently, there were insufficient funds for this project.

The MSRDC was expecting financial support from the state government. The Development Plan Report for the project was in the last stage.

Mr Shinde also announced that the Bandra Versova Sea Link will extended upto Virar — a distant suburb of Mumbai.

“The Bandra-Versova Sea Link will be extended up to Virar. MSRDC officials are drafting the Development Plan Report (DPR) for the same,” he said.

About the Samruddhi Mahamarg corridor that will connect Mumbai and Nagpur, Mr Shinde said that work on the 700km long road has already started and 18 to 20 per cent of it is already completed. The entire project was expected to be completed by 2022.