Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the Mumbai Trans Harbour Sealink (MTHL) on Wednesday and said it will pave the way for new growth centres at Chirle, Navi Mumbai. He said these new growth centres will be developed in Pen and Poinad region near Chirle Raigad district.
The statement comes against the backdrop of the government being lambasted by the Opposition for the state losing out on the Vedanta-Foxconn project which has shifted to Gujarat. However, CM Shinde refused the allegations made and instead said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured the state will get a similar project or even a better one. Metropolitan Commissioner S V R Srinivas said the growth centre development will be taken up by the MMRDA.
Meanwhile, the 22km sea bridge, MTHL project, also popularly called Sewri Navha Sheva is 84 per cent ready and will be open for traffic next year. Currently, it takes 120 minutes to travel between South Mumbai and Navi Mumbai . Once the MTHL seabridge is open, the travel time will be down to 15-20 minutes. It will also reduce carbon emission by 26,000 tonnes.