MMRDA floats infra tenders of over ₹10,000 cr

MUMBAI: A day before the announcement of the general election dates, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) issued multiple tenders for infrastructure work worth over ₹10,000 crore on Friday. The projects include an extension of the Eastern freeway up to Thane and a pod car transit system in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

Chief minister Eknath Shinde was pushing for a tender for an elevated road from Ghatkopar to Thane, his hometown.

The extension of the Eastern Freeway to Thane will be a sixlane road and will take three years to complete, costing the MMRDA ₹2,560 crore. MMRDA commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee said, “This is the extension of Eastern Freeway to Thane and will give seamless connectivity. We have a plan along the median and sides of the Eastern Express Highway. We will try to avoid private lands. MMRDA is also doing the redevelopment of the Ramabai Colony slums for this road.’’ The development authority has also floated a request proposal for the maintenance of a commercially viable Automated Rapid Transit (ART) System — a combination between a bus and a tram — Personalised Transit System in BKC on DFBOT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer) basis.

To improve the connectivity in BKC, a pod car system is in the plans. Sources in MMRDA said that the police failed to tackle the share auto menace. For Kalyan – Rundhe to Goveli, the authorities have planned a ring road worth ₹31 crore, connecting Kalyan-murbad Road (Palms Water Resort) To Badlapur Road (Jagdish Dughdhalaya) to Pune Link Road Parallel to Waldhuni River crossing over Karjat and Kasara Railway Line Including Slip Road. MMRDA will also appoint a project management consultant for merging the Thane Ghodbunder Road Main Carriageway with Service Road and carry out concretization of the balance width from Kapurbawadi to Gaimukh for ₹395 crore.