The under-construction Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) crossed another milestone on Saturday when the segment casting work for Package-2 of the project was completed.
“It is a wonderful achievement as we cross one more milestone and move a little closer towards project completion. This engineering marvel – MTHL – is now 93 per cent complete,” said S V R Srinivas, Commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) which is the nodal agency for the MTHL project.
A total of 3,132 segments have been casted for Package-2 of the project.
Four Packages
The MTHL bridge has been split into four packages – while packages 1 and 2 are sea based, package 3 is on land.
Package-1 spans from Sewri (0.00 km) to 10.380 km and Package-2 is from Sewri (10.380 km) to 18.189 km. Package-3 covers the stretch of the bridge from Sewri (18.187 km) and continues for 3.60 km, concluding on land at 21.80 km.
Lastly, Package-4 entails work related to installation of an intelligent transport system (ITS), toll management system, electrical works, highway illumination system, and construction of toll plazas and administrative buildings including the command control centre.
India’s Longest Sea Bridge
Connecting Sewri in Mumbai to Chirle in Navi Mumbai, the sea link reduces the travel time between South Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to just 20 minutes from the present two hours.
Popularly known as the Sewri Nhava Sheva Harbour Link, the MTHL is a 22-km-long six-lane bridge, 16.5 km of which would be over the sea and about 5.5 km viaduct on land on either side.
Additionally, the project will promote greater economic integration of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and their extended regions such as Pune, Goa, Panvel, and Alibaug.
Financing
Recently, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) extended an official development assistance (ODA) loan of 30,755 million Japanese Yen (approximately Rs 1,927 crore) for the MTHL project in Maharashtra.
This loan agreement is the third tranche of JICA financing for MTHL, and the loan agreement for the first and second tranches were signed on 31 March 2017 and on 27 March 2020, respectively.
Deadline
The commencement date of three civil works packages was 23 March 2018 and the progress is 92.60 per cent in Package-1, 92.28 per cent in Package-2, and 98.09 per cent in Package-3, as of 5 March 2023.
Touted as India’s longest sea bridge, the bridge is expected to open in December 2023.