Goregaon Mulund Link Road deadline extended! Project cost escalates to Rs.6k crore!!
The Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) is one of the most ambitious projects of the BJP government and the BMC. Interestingly, both the BJP candidates, MP Manoj Kotak and MLA Mihir Kotecha, have won the elections, promising to construct the GMLR at the earliest but alas the project is witnessing umpteen hurdles.
According to the latest reports, the project has yet again undergone a new technical glitch. As a result, commuters will have to wait still longer until GMLR is a reality!! To rub salt to the wound, due to continuous delays the cost of construction is set to escalate to a whopping Rs 6,000 crore! The project was initially set to be completed at Rs 1,300 crore!!
The GMLR is a vital road that connects Mulund East and West and extends to Goregaon in the Western railway. However, the snail’s speed progress of GMLR has received much flak from the commuters. It may be noted that the BMC is constructing an underground tunnel passing through the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). Hence, the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has added a condition to perform an environmental impact study before, in between and after completion of the project. Besides, even the Film City administration is concerned as the GMLR is going to pass through Film City Road and this would create a division of Film City. Thus, to tackle the hindrance, the BMC has decided to construct an underground tunnel of 1.6 km beneath Film City.
Besides, BMC also plans to construct a 4.7 km underground tunnel connecting Amar Nagar to GMLR. Hence, the cost of GMLR is set to increase to Rs 6,000 crore. This project is set to complete in 3 phases. In the first phase, road widening will be done between Eastern Express Highway to Amar Nagar. In the second phase, work on a flyover will be done and in the third phase, underground tunnel work will be done.
According to a rough calculation, the phases were to be completed in 36 months, but due to consistent hurdles, the project will now be completed in 42 months. Thus, the commuters will now have to wait for another 3 to 4 years for the completion of the much-awaited GMLR which would decongest Mulund for major traffic menace. It will also shorten the distance from Mulund to Goregaon and Film City.
