The new Mumbai: How a mega-infrastructure push is redefining the city’s skyline
From the balcony of her sea-facing apartment on the 21st floor in Breach Candy, Kavita Chawla has watched her south Mumbai neighbourhood change since 1982. Overlooking the 10.58-km stretch from Marine Drive to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, the housewife overlooks the work on the first phase of the 29.2-km Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP), saying, “My husband can now cover that distance in five minutes even during peak hours. It used to take him around 40 minutes. This new section is magical.”
From roads and metro lines to India’s longest sea bridge and first undersea tunnel, Mumbai has transformed its infrastructure at an unprecedented pace in just over a decade. While Mumbai residents, some of the country’s highest taxpayers, have long balked at Delhi’s wide roads and flyovers, India’s financial capital is finally catching up. On June 10, the government opened the second phase of the 6.25-km coastal road project linking Haji Ali to Marine Drive.
Once dominated by skyscrapers and high rise buildings, Maximum City’s skyline is now dotted with arterial roads, transport interchange loops and elevated metro lines. Apart from roads, the introduction of two new metro lines has changed the way 235,000 Mumbai residents travel on a weekday. Of the current 40.4km of metro network in the city’s suburbs, 29km will be operational between 2022-2023. Over the next five years, the government aims to expand the network to 300km, including elevated and underground tracks in the city. On July 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for infrastructure projects worth Rs 22,991 crore in Mumbai to upgrade the city’s road and rail transport and road network systems. Read more
