Money can't buy common sense: Commuters stop for selfies at Atal Setu, Internet fumes

Commuters stopping for pictures at the newly inaugurated Mumbai Trans Harbour Sealink (MTHL) left many fuming online. 

People turned up in droves to experience driving on the bridge, stopping for selfies on a stretch that has a speed limit of 100 kmph. 

No vehicles are allowed to stop and click pictures. The 21.8 km-long Atal Bihari Vajpayee Smruti Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu link road was dotted with multiple parked vehicles as commuters clicked photographs.

On Saturday, nearly 9,000 vehicles took the sealink in 12 hours, according to numbers released by the 
Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority which is tasked with managing the bridge traffic.

Also read: Atal Setu, top 7 tech used in making of the bridge

The bridge has a new open-road tolling system that uses cameras and scanners and eliminates the need for traditional toll booths. The toll for cars has been fixed at Rs 250 for a one-way trip and Rs 375 for a return journey.

A monthly pass for a car will cost Rs 12,500. Atal Setu will cut short the arduous two-hour-long journey between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to a 20-minute ride. The project, six years in the making, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi this Friday.

The project has been built at a cost of almost ₹20,000 crore, and is a boon for Mumbaikars, who normally have to drive 42 km between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai through traffic.