Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde visits the Mumbai Coastal Road Project.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) on February 19 which has been named after the legendary Maratha warrior’s son Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, coinciding with his birth anniversary, BMC’s Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Dr Iqbal Singh Chahal confirmed.
The one-of-its-kind project in India is being executed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Last year, the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government named the MRCP as the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Motorway which is an engineering marvel and one of the most ambitious projects aimed at easing the traffic in the financial capital of the country.
Built at an estimated cost of around Rs 13,000 crore, the MCRP is a toll-free motorway and an under-construction 8-lane with a 29.2-km long grade-separated expressway which runs along Mumbai's western coastline connecting Marine Lines in the South to Kandivali in the North.
Its first phase, which is under-construction, is a 10.58 km section from Princess Street Flyover to the Worli-end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, officially known as Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link.
PM Modi will inaugurate the coastal road spanning from Marine Drive to Worli. CM Shinde has been inspecting and reviewing the progress of the project daily.
Meanwhile, Worli MLA and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said that the MCRP was formally proposed by Uddhav Thackeray in July 2013.
“We started off the work in 2017-18 and 65 per cent of the work had completed until the time when our government was toppled by a bunch of cowards in 2022. We held weekly reviews and monthly visits, unlike the current regime,” he said, referring to the work and the toppling of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
“While politicians who have nothing to do with the coastal road and Mumbai from the parties that have illegally captured Maharashtra’s government and have been looting Mumbai, will try to inaugurate a half made coastal road for election credit. This is the real story. Inaugurating the coastal road, not fully ready is a bad idea… but then, for politics, what all can be done! Shame that our city is being used for their politics,” Aaditya added.