Change in pillar design to cause delay in Mumbai Coastal Road Project
10 Mar 2023
3 Min Read
CW Team
The Mumbai Coastal Road Project's (MCRP) launch date may be postponed by seven months, until
June 2024. The delay results from modifying the design of the pillars to satisfy the demands of Worli
Koliwada鈥檚 protesting fishermen. The project's contractor, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
(BMC), has repeatedly said that the Coastal Road will be completed by November 2023.
Via a network of highways and underground tunnels, the 10.58 km coastal road would link Nariman
Point in South Mumbai with the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) at Worli. With the intention of
reducing traffic, a two-part coastal road is being developed on reclaimed ground. The Southern
Section of the Bandra Worli Sea Link, which runs from Princess Street Flyover to the South End, is
being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 125 billion. As of January 30, 2023, work on the South
portion had finished to a total of 70%.
The northern portion would extend from Kandivali Junction to the north end of the Bandra Worli Sea
Link. This stretch of construction has not yet started. To connect MCRP with BWSL, the BMC is
building a traffic interchange at Worli. The interchange will be an elevated building that rises from
the shallow seabed on pillars built there.
Members of the fisherfolk community from Cleveland Bunder, an artisan fishing harbour in the
Koliwada, disputed the MCRP project team鈥檚 first recommendation to keep the distance between
each pillar at about 60 m. The fishing community claimed that the Bunder's shallow waters and rocks
would make it difficult for their boats to navigate through such a small space and that tidal waves
would damage their boats.
As a result, they demanded that the span's breadth be increased to 200 metres. But, the BMC
declined, which led to demonstrations and a several-month work stoppage. The dispute was finally
resolved in December 2022 when the BMC agreed to offer a 120-metre span for the fishermen's
boats, up from the initial commitment of 60 metres. According to the project's principal engineer,
only pillars 7-9 will have a navigation span of 120 metres; the remaining pillars will have a span of 60
metres.
Unfortunately, pillar number 8 had to be removed in order to construct a 120-m wide navigational
span, which required the design revision. 鈥淎s one pillar's construction was abandoned, the load from
that portion would be transferred to the pillars on either side. Because of this, each of these new
pillars must be redesigned to support 1.5 times as much weight as their initial capability,鈥� according
to a BMC official.
The local authority subsequently hired two consultants to complete the new pillar design and
choose a new schedule for project completion. As a result, a substantial amount of time from the
building season (the non-monsoon season) has already been lost, and project completion dates will
be delayed by over seven months.
The Mumbai Coastal Road Project's (MCRP) launch date may be postponed by seven months, until
June 2024. The delay results from modifying the design of the pillars to satisfy the demands of Worli
Koliwada鈥檚 protesting fishermen. The project's contractor, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
(BMC), has repeatedly said that the Coastal Road will be completed by November 2023.
Via a network of highways and underground tunnels, the 10.58 km coastal road would link Nariman
Point in South Mumbai with the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) at Worli. With the intention of
reducing traffic, a two-part coastal road is being developed on reclaimed ground. The Southern
Section of the Bandra Worli Sea Link, which runs from Princess Street Flyover to the South End, is
being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 125 billion. As of January 30, 2023, work on the South
portion had finished to a total of 70%.
The northern portion would extend from Kandivali Junction to the north end of the Bandra Worli Sea
Link. This stretch of construction has not yet started. To connect MCRP with BWSL, the BMC is
building a traffic interchange at Worli. The interchange will be an elevated building that rises from
the shallow seabed on pillars built there.
Members of the fisherfolk community from Cleveland Bunder, an artisan fishing harbour in the
Koliwada, disputed the MCRP project team鈥檚 first recommendation to keep the distance between
each pillar at about 60 m. The fishing community claimed that the Bunder's shallow waters and rocks
would make it difficult for their boats to navigate through such a small space and that tidal waves
would damage their boats.
As a result, they demanded that the span's breadth be increased to 200 metres. But, the BMC
declined, which led to demonstrations and a several-month work stoppage. The dispute was finally
resolved in December 2022 when the BMC agreed to offer a 120-metre span for the fishermen's
boats, up from the initial commitment of 60 metres. According to the project's principal engineer,
only pillars 7-9 will have a navigation span of 120 metres; the remaining pillars will have a span of 60
metres.
Unfortunately, pillar number 8 had to be removed in order to construct a 120-m wide navigational
span, which required the design revision. 鈥淎s one pillar's construction was abandoned, the load from
that portion would be transferred to the pillars on either side. Because of this, each of these new
pillars must be redesigned to support 1.5 times as much weight as their initial capability,鈥� according
to a BMC official.
The local authority subsequently hired two consultants to complete the new pillar design and
choose a new schedule for project completion. As a result, a substantial amount of time from the
building season (the non-monsoon season) has already been lost, and project completion dates will
be delayed by over seven months.
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