Good news Mumbaikars! Travel time from Nariman Point to Bandra is now cut short to 15 minutes as North Channel Bridge is inaugurated by CM Devendra Fadnavis today, January 26. From tomorrow (Monday) onwards, the Coastal Road will be open for vehicular traffic from 7 am to 12 am. Earlier, it used to take bout one to one and a half hours to reach Bandra from Nariman Point.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis alongwith Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday inaugurated the northbound carriage of the bow-string bridge, which connects the Mumbai Coastal Road to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL).
After the inauguration of the Coastal Road, Devendra Fadnavis himself drove the car on this road. During this time, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was sitting on the seat next to him.
Credit was begins between BJP and Thacrey Sena
Politics over the Coastal road has also commenced as both BJP and Thackrey Sena are taking credit for the road. Interestingly, in 2018, when the 'Bhoomi poojan' of this road was done, the then CM Devendra Fadnavis was not invited by Uddhav Thackeray, but today Fadnavis inaugurated the road.
Taking a dig at the Thackeray Sena's attempt to take credit for the Coastal Road, Fadnavis said, tomorrow if someone says that we built the Taj Mahal, the public will not believe it. No one should try to take credit for this road, the public knows who took the necessary permissions from the Center for the construction of this road, who played an important role in the construction of this road, the CM said.
Addressing the media during the inauguration ceremony, CM Fadnavis said, “This road will save a lot of time and fuel for Mumbaikars and play an important role in reducing pollution. Ninety-four per cent of the work is now complete, and the Coastal Road has been inaugurated today."
The northbound bridge is 827 metres long, with 699 metres over the sea and a 128-metre access road. The bridge includes a 143-metre long, 27-metre wide and 31-metre high 'Bo Arch String Girder' weighing approximately 2,400 metric tons.