MMRDA secures permission to work on salt pan lands

Major hurdle in construction of Anik-Panjrapol Link Road cleared
Mumbai, April, 2011 – A major hurdle in construction of the Anik-Panjrapol Link Road (APLR) is cleared as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has secured permission from the Salt Department to work on the salt pan lands.
The Anik-Panjrapol Link Road is a crucial part of the overall Eastern Freeway which begins from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum to Eastern Express Highway at Ghatkoper including the Anik-Panjrapol Link Rod. However, to complete the connectivity, it was required to develop a critical missing link from the MbPT Pipeline gate to Anik-Panjrapol Link Road. This missing link travels over the existing saltpans and is proposed to be constructed with six-lane motorable road. The total area required for the construction over the saltpans admeasures 32,650 square meters.
“To secure this permission the MMRDA approached many an authority from the Salt Department, Jaipur to Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to Group of Ministers. Of course, now that the permission has been granted the work on this link would proceed unhindered and will be a major boost to the early completion of the Eastern Freeway”, said Ms.Ashwini Bhide, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA.
The rupees 531-crore Eastern Freeway will provide faster connectivity between city, suburbs and the Metropolitan Region. The public transport and intercity buses towards Pune, Goa and Bangalore will ultimately use the Eastern freeway and MTHL to avoid congested road network of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai and save, at least an hour of commute, and invaluable fuel. The express services of BEST between city and eastern suburbs, Navi Mumbai will also be able to utilize this road and can effectively save travelling time. The elevated road is designed taking in to account the projections of local traffic and MbPT. The link will facilitate goods traffic to the port and curtail precious lead-time.