Dinesh Kamath's news item 'CIDCO asked to give land to MMRDA for trans harbour link' that was published in Newsband

CIDCO asked to give land to MMRDA for trans harbour link

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: It appears that the much-delayed Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) will soon become a reality.

The state government has asked the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd. (CIDCO) to transfer 91.77 hectares of land in Navi Mumbai to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is implementing the project.

 MMRDA is in-charge of the project - on a 99-year lease. It will not have to pay for this land.

The link, which connects Navi Mumbai to the island city, will benefit thousands of motorists who shuttle between the two cities daily.

Once the transfer of land is done, the MMRDA will finally be able to start work on the project by year-end.

The MMRDA, however, still has to acquire 27 more hectares of land from Jasai, Chirle and Gavan villages.  In addition, it has not yet got land from the Mumbai Port trust (MbPT), through which the MTHL will pass.

The MMRDA will have to provide compensation to Project Affected Persons for the remaining 27.8 hectares. The link is being built at a cost of Rs 9,630 crore and is expected to be operational by 2018-19.