All the Mumbaikar who were very much excited about this Bandra Worli sea link was finally inaugurated by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, reducing the travel time between the southern part of the metropolis and its western suburbs from the present 60-90 minutes to 6-8 minutes and is made open for people from today.
Today morning a new day will dawn for Mumbai's rush hour motorists, with the Rs 750 crore link offering a new route between the island city and the western suburbs. Till now, the Mahim Causeway was the only route. all the Mumbaikar are very much excited about this Bandra Worli sea link
Barely hours after the Bandra Worli sealink was named 'Rajiv Gandhi Setu', the move drew criticism from Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, which favoured it being named after Swatantrayaveer Savarkar.
The Bandra Worli link is a short stretch that does not even cover the western shore, as envisaged two decades ago. It took ages because of design changes and payment disputes. The trans-harbour bridge creek has been bid for twice yet not awarded to anybody. Nobody takes a holistic view of the city's traffic needs because of the politics and money involved in alignments, land acquisition and contract placements.
Nevertheless, some people celebrate the Sea Link saying something is better than nothing: "Why expect too much, we are like that only." Yet plenty of things in India are world class. Infosys and TCS could not have got where they are today by doing projects five years late and at five times the estimated cost. We have world class manufacturing companies like Tata Steel and Bharat Forge.
Motorists could end up coughing up Rs 50 as toll to save just 10 minutes. The state has spent Rs 1,634 crore to build the sea link. The money was spent on building the link's approach and exit roads, the 4 lanes of the BWSL and another 4 lanes between Bandra and Worli that will open later when the Worli-Haji Ali section is completed.
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