The Rajiv Gandhi

(Bandra-Worli) Sea link

 The Bandra- Worli Sea Link
üINAUGURATION June 30, 2009
ü
üLandmark for Mumbai city
ü
üAmong the most complex & advanced
ü
üconstruction projects ever in India
ü
üMajor project in Mumbai metropolitan region after
Mumbai-Pune expressway
•
 Project
üSea link project conceived in the 1990s
üPlagued by PILs- fishermen & environmentalists
ü2004- Work started
üBut drastic changes to 80% of the bridge design
üCost escalation from Rs 350 crore to Rs 1,306
crore to Rs 1,634 crore
üMSRDC project
üExecuted by Hindustan Construction Company
üIllumination by Bajaj Electricals, Rs 9 crore
•
 Location

üBuilt over the Mahim Bay

ü
üConnects Bandra(suburb) to Worli(central Mumbai)
ü
ü8-lane-wide
ü
üSea link length- 5.6-km, 3.8 km over the sea
ü
 Facts
•Height of the cable-stayed tower = 43-storey building
•Weight= 50,000 African elephants
•Steel wire used= circumference of the earth
•Cement used- 90,000 tons
•16 lanes toll plaza, at the Bandra end
•
 How the Sea-Link Helps
•Additional connectivity from city to suburbs
•Reduces travel time from 1 hour+ to only 7 minutes
•Decongests Mahim Causeway- 125,000 vehicles a
day
•Avoids 29 traffic lights
•Save Rs 100 crore a year in vehicle operating costs
 Landmark

•Hot tourist spot

•Key destination in 'Mumbai Darshan' package
•Special open BEST buses between BKC & Worli sea
face
•8-lane bridge, with 2 dedicated bus lanes
 Problems Perceived
•Major traffic snarls at Worli, no solution figured out
•Additional congestion on SV road and across Lilavati
Hospital
•Toll proposed- Rs 50 one-way, may dissuade a few
•
•
• 
•
•
 Environmental Issues

qPROTECTED SPECIES ENDANGERED BY ILLEGAL TREE FELLING

üDepletion of mangroves
üFlora and fauna suffered
üReduction in oxygen
üDepletion of marine life as they are breeding ground for them
üFlooding and choking of the drains have increased.
üMoreover shellfish and freshwater fish have all stopped breeding.
 Environmental Issues

qIMPACT ON LIVELIHOOD OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES

üAffects the livelihood of several fishermen families

üApproximately 20,000 people are dependent on fishing as an occupation.
üIn mahim 500 are dependent and in bandra another 2,000 are affected.
üTheir pleas were ignored
üWe have to walk 500 square yards to reach the sea. We have no place to
park our boats.
üWe have no source of income now and reclamation is still continuing.
üEarlier our family used to earn around Rs. 1,500 a day but now we get
only Rs. 100 a day, sometimes less.
üThere used to be lobsters, crabs, prawns, etc. But now because of
the pollution we do not get these.
 Environmental Issues

qTHE IMPACT OF ADDITIONAL TRAFFIC – CONGESTION IN

SOUTH MUMBAI

üThe road network is based on three north-south corridor

üMumbai road traffic has worsened by around 400% in the last
twenty years.
ü It poses considerable health problems.
üThe effect of major new roads attract additional traffic
üThe persistent congestion can only be alleviated by managing
demand within available capacity
üThe most popular and environmentally clean mode of
transport is electrically operated local railway network
ü
 Environmental Issues

qINCREASE IN ROAD TRAFFIC A SOURCE OF POLLUTION

üIn Mumbai, noise pollution will increase with traffic volume

üThe concept of encouraging unsustainable and unhealthy mode of
public transport is retrogressive
üIn Mumbai, road transport is a major source of air pollution and
poses a considerable health problem
üAnother effect of the increase in private vehicle growth is rise in
noise pollution, which leads to stress related health problems and
lowering of efficiency of work
ü
 CONCLUSION

üIt is clear that the not one but several aspects of the
Environmental Regulations of the country have been
violated.
üSecondly the project as is planned will only seek to
exacerbate the problem is already severely congested.
üThe most worrying part of the project is that
studies using current data have not been used.
üLastly as there has been no survey undertaken how
much the citizens are willing to pay for the use of the
bridge.