MMRDA approves Rs 58,000-cr plan to build ring roads encircling Mumbai: Report

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has plans to encircle Mumbai with a network of ring roads to be constructed at an outlay of Rs 58,000 crore. According to reports the plan has been approved for the network of roads, bridges and tunnels that will cover around 90 km.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the network of ring roads would help in decongesting the city, ease traffic jams and cut travel over the next five years. The plan includes covering the city from all sides, providing connectivity to suburban habitations, and giving easy access to the Gujarat border, Konkan Maharashtra and Western Maharashtra. 

The seven outer and inner ring roads that form the centre of the plan are currently in various stages of development and tendering, the report added. The MMRDA will be joined by various development authorities such as Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). 

Most of these new roads will be tolled, stated the report quoting MMRDA Commissioner Dr Sanjay Mukherjee. This plan is in line with the vision of ‘Mumbai in Minutes’. Mukherjee said that it should not take more than 59 minutes to travel from one end of the city to the other.

This new project is also expected to manage the increasing traffic that is expected in the coming years due to other major projects such as Navi Mumbai International Airport and Wadhwan Port. 

Mukherjee said that the comprehensive plan included several key projects such as the Versova-Bandra Sea Link, Versova-Dahisar and Mira Bhayander-Dahisar Link Road, Alibaug-Virar Multi Modal Corridor and the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway among others, forming a ring around the city. 

The network of ring roads would traverse through “sea, creek, forests, and urban highways, using tunnels and elevated bridges”, said Mukherjee. The projects totalling Rs 3 lakh crore from MMRDA are part of the a larger infrastructure push, supported by international agencies, including from Japan.