The construction work on the Thane Creek Bridge (TCB-3) has commenced by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) which has been appointed as contractor by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).
The civil work of the creek bridge was supposed to commence two years ago. However, the necessary permission for cutting mangroves and mutation of land titleship for afforestation was required. Hence, the project work could not take off till date.
The total project cost is Rs 776 crore. The project is expected to complete within the next three years.
The first test file for the bridge construction was carried out in December 2020. The project is crucial to ease traffic movement between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai.
Moreover, MSRDC has allotted 1.4 ha of land parcel in Erangal at Malad Island for carrying out afforestation. The state government had handed over the land parcel free of cost.
Besides, MSRDC had paid Rs 15 crore separately to the mangrove cell for conservation of the mangroves and the flamingo sanctuary affected by the project.
The new TCB-3, once ready, will provide six more lanes to the existing TCB-2. The TCB-1 and -2 were built in 1973 and 1997. However, considering the rising vehicular movement and the upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport, the new bridge has been proposed to provide smooth connectivity between the two cities.