To expedite the much-delayed Versova-Bandra Sea Link (VBSL) project, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has now allotted another casting yard to the contractor, WeBuild-APCO, so the work can be taken up at war-footing, said an official requesting anonymity.
Located at a stone’s throw from the MSRDC headquarters, the agency-owned yard is spread across 82,000 sq mt of prime land in Bandra. The sprawling facility, given at an annual rent of Re 1, will facilitate easy mobilisation of machinery on site, fabrication of girders and paraphernalia transportation to the VBSL site, added the official.
The MSRDC, which is the nodal agency for the futuristic project, is already paying Rs 34 crore annually for 10 hectares of land parcel in Malad—the first casting yard rented from a private party. As the MSRDC has provided more than a committed land parcel of 5 hectares, the whopping rent is equally split among the MSRDC and the contractor.
Now, the project will be carried out speedily as the contractor has two yards to operate, the official said.
Notably, The FPJ had exclusively reported that the MSRDC was intalks with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority to reacquire the Bandra yard, which the latter was using for Metro rail works.
Despite the availability of two yards, there will not be much development in the VBSL project as sea works can’t be undertaken till monsoon end. So far, just 2.5 per cent civil work has been completed on the 18-km-long sea link, which is being developed at Rs 7,000 crore. The project deadline is by the end of 2024.
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