Delay inflates Ghodbunder Road’s cost by Rs 100 crore

Mumbai: A 4.4km long elevated road on the hilly section of Thane-Ghodbunder road had received the Cabinet nod as well as the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) approval in 2015. However, it is yet to get a go-ahead from the forest department and the wildlife board. The cost of the project was Rs 550 crore when it was announced in 2015. The current estimate is about Rs 667 crore. The construction work is expected to start in the next few months.

“The detailed project report has been made for his project. We are awaiting the permissions from the wildlife board and the forest department to appoint the contractors to  execute the project,” said a senior MSRDC official.

Starting from the Fountain Hotel, the elevated road will be constructed on the bottleneck hilly area of the road. It will have four lanes and there will be no restriction on the type of vehicles allowed to ply on it. This is expected to ensure
a smooth flow of heavy vehicles on the existing Ghodbunder-Thane stretch. It will end at Gaimukh in Thane.

Initially, the MSRDC had planned to widen the current road. However, the plan was scrapped and the elevated road was brought into the picture.

Importance of  the road 

The current Thane-Ghodbunder road is an important road leading to the Thane city. The road is connected to the Eastern Express Highway (NH-3) on one end and to the Western Express Highway (NH-8) on the other. It carries a significant amount of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust bound traffic to and from Gujarat. It also traverses through the dense forest area of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.