MbPT and JNPT want Rs 163 crore and Rs 500 crore respectively for key proposed sea bridge. State chief secretary meets PM's principal secretary today to haggle
The state government has knocked the doors of the Prime Minister's Office to find a final solution to the charges levied by Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT ) and Jawa harlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) for the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link. State Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya is to meet the prime minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra today in Delhi.
Also known as the Sewri-Nhava Sheva Trans Harbour Link, the 22-km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link connecting Navi Mumbai with Mumbai will be India's longest sea bridge when completed. The bridge will begin in Sewri and cross Thane Creek north of Elephanta Island and will terminate at Chirle village, near Nhava Sheva.The road will be linked to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport and the Mumbai-Goa highway.The sea link will be a six-lane highway 27 metres wide plus the edge strip and crash barrier. The project is estimated to cost Rs 11,000 crore.
It is being constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). Since it will pass through their jurisdictions, the MbPT and JNPT have demanded compensation for the right of way.
“I am going to Delhi to solve this issue on Monday,“ Kshatriya told Mirror. “The construction of Navi Mumbai International Airport has been put on fast track; 10 million passengers are supposed to use it yearly. If the airport comes up before the Trans Harbour Link is completed, how will people commute [to and from the new airport]? We want to pay them [MbPT and JNPT] money for the right of way, but the amount must be reasonable. I am trying to get the amount reduced.“
JNPT and MbPT, however, do not feel the amount they have asked from the state government is unreasonable. Ashok Lokhande, chief manager of port planning and management, JNPT, said: “We have told them that we want Rs 163 crore for 99 years of lease for our 18 hectares, of which two hectares is at landfall point.Nearly 12 km of the bridge passes through our area. We are only charging them 50 per cent of the land rentals.“
JNPT officials said that they had once agreed to give the land at one rupee per annum, but now that the land acquisition policy guidelines have been adopted by the state government that no longer stands.
The MbPT has decided to charge about Rs 500 crore for 30 years from the MMRDA. The MbPT Chairman Ravi Parmar said: “The government is deciding the policy, we will tell them the final quantum of money to be paid.There is a chemical berth which will be closed down in the Mumbai Port Trust if the Trans Harbour Link comes up. This handles half a million tonnes of cargo per annum and many godowns at Timber Pond at Sewree will have to be demolished. So along with the compensation for all this, Rs 500 crore is not a big amount.“
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