Mumbai, Nov 24 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday announced a comprehensive plan to make Mumbai “traffic-free” in the next three years by building a network of underground tunnels and parallel roads.

The Chief Minister described the city’s upcoming underground road system as a ‘pataal lok’ (underworld) during a Bharatiya Janata Party ‘Youth Connect’ interaction programme, asserting it would permanently ease commuter congestion.

Fadnavis said that the government has a comprehensive plan to construct a city-wide web of tunnels and parallel routes alongside chronically choked roads, relieving pressure on existing arteries. He confirmed that building this system of underground corridors will make Mumbai free of chronic traffic snarls in the coming years.

The Chief Minister pointed out that approximately 60 per cent of Mumbai’s traffic load currently runs along the Western Express Highway, and reducing this burden is central to any viable solution.

Parallel roads are being built to address this, with new corridors being designed to permit vehicle speeds up to 80 km per hour, significantly cutting bottlenecks, in contrast to the current average speed of about 20 km per hour which drops to 15 km per hour during the peak hours in the city, he said.

Fadnavis said that an underground tunnel is currently under construction between Thane and Borivali, with another planned between Mulund and Goregaon to significantly boost east-west connectivity in Mumbai.

“A new road parallel to the Western Express Highway is being constructed between Borivali and Goregaon, while a bridge from Worli to Sewri is being built to connect directly to the Atal Setu, allowing people from the suburbs to reach the Navi Mumbai International Airport via the coastal road,” he noted.

On the eastern side, the CM said, a tunnel is being constructed from the point where the Eastern Freeway ends, targeting its completion within three years. “This underground stretch will run up to Girgaum Chowpatty and is expected to substantially ease congestion in south Mumbai,” he added.

Fadnavis further said that another tunnel is being developed from the Bandra-Worli Sea Link toward the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) to relieve traffic, which will be extended up to the airport.

“This extension will reduce travel time from south Mumbai to the airport to a maximum of about 20 minutes,” he claimed.

The ambitious infrastructure project aims to transform Mumbai’s transportation landscape and provide long-term relief from the city’s notorious traffic problems within the next three years, the CM said.

–IANS

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