Six months after floating the tenders for the development of a cable-stayed flyover between Madh and Versova within the western suburbs, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Company (BMC) has authorised the issuance of labor orders for this mission this week. In the meantime, the mission value has elevated considerably by 60 per cent inside these six months.
The tenders for this mission have been floated in March 2024 at an estimated value of Rs 1,800 crore, following which development agency APCO Infratech Personal Restricted was chosen because the profitable bidder at Rs 2,029 crore. Earlier this week, the civic administration handed a proposal to award the contract at Rs 3,246 crore.
When contacted, civic officers maintained that the estimated value was up to date, bearing in mind the change in market charges. A number of components, equivalent to labour fees and materials prices, have been additionally included within the remaining value of the mission.
“The timeline of finishing this mission is three years. Due to this fact, now we have thought-about components like hire of the casting yards, upkeep of the bridges for 3 years after development and alter in market costs of uncooked supplies within the remaining value, which made the general value go up by a sure margin,” stated an official.
The flyover will probably be 2.06 km lengthy and cable-stayed. The bridge will move above Madh Creek and join Madh Island within the western suburbs with Versova. At the moment, a jetty connects the 2 locations, and there’s no vehicular entry.
Motorists should journey through Hyperlink Street, S V Street, or Western Specific Freeway when commuting between these locations, which takes greater than 45 minutes throughout peak hours. Additionally, the ferry service within the jetty stays suspended in the course of the monsoon season. As soon as the flyover is constructed, the journey time between these two locations will come down to 5 minutes.
This bold flyover mission was formally proposed in 2015, nevertheless it by no means noticed the sunshine of day. The BMC finalised the ultimate blueprint in 2020. Because of the mission’s alignment passing by means of a dense mangrove cowl and coastal regulatory zone, the civic physique required environmental clearances.
In March 2022, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Administration Authority (MCZMA) requested the BMC to plan an alternate alignment for the bridge to minimise harm to the mangroves.
The mission additionally confronted opposition from the fishing group in Versova-Madh, which claimed that the proposed bridge would make parking boats inconvenient.
Lastly, in January this 12 months, the BMC obtained the required environmental clearances to proceed with the bridge’s development, following which tenders have been floated.
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