Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link will be made operational by November: Shinde

According to Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister, Maharashtra, up to 90% of the civil construction on the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) has been finished, and the bridge will open to traffic in November of this year. A 16.5 kilometre portion of the 22 km long bridge is above the water. The six- lane MTHL project is being implemented by the MMRDA and it is being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The MTHL project will connect the Navi Mumbai area to south Mumbai. The 21.8 kilometre, six-lane MTHL project is being implemented by the MMRDA, a Maharashtra government body, with funding provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. When finished, it will be India's longest sea bridge and can accommodate 70,000 vehicles per day. By building the MTHL, which connects Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, the project aims to improve connectivity in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region while reducing traffic congestion and fostering economic growth. He stated that this longest sea bridge in the country will be the first to use the Open Road Tolling (ORT) system. According to Shinde, it will take 15 to 20 minutes to get from Sewri in central Mumbai to Chirle in Navi Mumbai once the bridge is ready for traffic. Thanks to the Open Tolling System, he said, vehicles won't need to stop on the bridge to pay the toll. According to representatives of the MMRDA, this technique is currently in use in Singapore. According to a press statement from the MMRDA, the first longest Orthotropic Steel Deck (OSD) in package-2 of the MTHL was successfully launched in the presence of Chief Minister Shinde. In the about 22 km long Trans-Harbour link between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, the first longest OSD of package-2 is 180 metres long and weighs 2300 metric tonnes. The press statement said that 15 of the 32 OSD spans in MTHL's package 2 had already been launched.