Mumbai coastal road must remain toll-free, says Congress

Varsha Gaikwad. Pic/X

The Congress party on Monday said that the newly inaugurated Coastal Road in Mumbai should remain toll-free. The phase 1 of the Coastal Road from Worli to Marine Drive was inaugurated by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday morning and the road will be open for vehicular movement from Tuesday.

Congress' Mumbai chief Varsha Gaikwad speaking to the media said, "A route of the Coastal Road was partially open to the public today after its inauguration was postponed several times. Former chief minister, late Vilasrao Deshmukh, had conceptualised the project and later CM Prithviraj Chavan took major steps to implement it. The current leaders should not try to take complete credit for the work," reported PTI.

The opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) had boycotted the inauguration event citing that the road is incomplete and BJP wants to take credit for the work done by previous government.

As per the PTI report, Gaikwad said that the Coastal road is important for Mumbaikars and should be kept toll-free. "During the budget, the administrator of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC commissioner Iqbal Sigh Chahal) said that new ways would be explored to increase revenue and sustain the Coastal Road. Since the conception stage of the project, the Congress has maintained that this coastal road should remain toll-free," Gaikwad added.

The BMC has already announced that the there will be no charges for vehicles on Coastal Road and it will be toll-free. The 53-km-long coastal road, named 'Dharmaveer Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Road, will be connected to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and extend to Dahisar.

Notably, the toll is applied on the Bandra-Worli Sea link and it is not clear yet how the charges will be calculated when Coastal Road connects to the sea link.

While, inaugurating the Phase 1 of the ambitious and expensive Coastal Road project on Monday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced the creation of Mumbai Central Park by combining green spaces along the road and the Mahalaxmi racecourse, totalling over 300 acres.

The Mumbai Coastal Road Project aims at addressing the growing traffic congestion in South Mumbai, offering a swift and efficient coastal road from Nariman Point.

(With PTI inputs)