Mumbai, August 31: In a bid to lessen Mumbai's traffic woes, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday approved a wide range of construction projects including Bandra-Versova sea link. This will be the new lane on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and third bridge on Thane creek at Vashi. The nod for the much-awaited infrastructure projects was given at the state government’s cabinet sub-committee on Wednesday. According to a release issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the Bandra-Versova sea link will be thrice the length of the present Bandra-Worli sea link.

The release informs that a route from Bandra Bus Terminus connecting the sea link at Versova Nana Nani Park from the Western Express Highway (Parle Junction) will also be developed. Construction of third bridge on the Thane creek at Vashi was also approved during the meeting, which includes extension and modernisation of the toll booth at Vashi and smoothing of the traffic movement.

Along with the approval of Bandra-Versova sea link, three other crucial infrastructure projects were also approved by the Chief Minister. These include the Bandra-Versova sea link, a bypass on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and a third six-lane bridge on the creek at Vashi on the Sion-Panvel highway. It must be noted that Fadnavis also heads the cabinet sub-committee on infrastructure. During the meeting, he ordered that the work on all these projects start within a month.

The release further informed that the construction of a new lane (missing link) in the ghat section between Khopoli and Khandala will be constructed. Construction of two-stage tunnel commencing from Khalapur toll booth terminating at Kusgaon (Sinhagad Institute) along with the connecting bridge will be undertaken as part of the project. The total length of the two tunnels in the project is 11 kms and the length of the connecting bridge is two kms. "The 650 meters cable-stayed bridge, which is the longest in the country, will be a tourist attraction. This link will reduce the distance between Pune and Mumbai and will also help in saving the journey time period," the release stated.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 31, 2018 09:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).