Virar-Alibaug corridor work to take off by mid-2020
Work on the much-touted Virar-Alibaug multimodal corridor is expected to take off by mid-2020. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is executing the ₹12,975-crore project, expects to start work on a 23-km stretch between Navghar and Anjur (part of phase-1) by mid-2020.
Sanjay Khandare, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, said the authority is looking at completing the land-acquisition process in the first half of the year. “The first phase of the project between Virar and Balavali includes 104 villages, and we are in the process of acquiring more than 1,000 hectares of land there.” The 79-km stretch between Virar and Balavali, with an estimated cost of ₹9,326 crore, will be the first phase of the 126-km-long project.
The second stretch from Balavali to Alibaug is 47kms that will be undertaken at a later stage.
The Virar-Alibaug corridor will be an eight-lane stretch with separate lanes for metro and bus rapid transit system. “The entire corridor will have 20 flyovers, 15 interchanges and 45 underpasses,” a senior MMRDA official said.
The project is aimed at decongesting Mumbai and turning its neighbouring towns into business hubs. It was one of the major recommendations in the comprehensive transport study, that concluded in2008, released by MMRDA.
In a note about the expected progress of projects in 2020 released on Monday, MMRDA has also said it is looking to complete 40% of civil works for the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) in 2020. As of now, MMRDA has completed 15% of the work on the sea-bridge, connecting Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.
MMRDA stated that it is also expecting to complete work on five Metro lines in the next two years; Metro 2A (Dahisar-DN Nagar), Metro 7 (Dahisar E-Andheri E), Metro 4 (Wadala-Thane- Kasarvadavali), Metro 2B (DN Nagar-Mandale) and Metro 6 (Swami Samarth Nagar-Vikhroli). The authority is looking at starting trial-runs for two metro lines — 2A and 7 — from September 2020.