Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project : Accorded govt approval

The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) - has been accorded formal approval. This will be Indian's second largest bridge.

The MTHL, estimated to cost around Rs.10,000 crore, will connect Mumbai island with the mainland at Raigad district, adjoining the metropolis and shall be implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

The eight-lane MTHL would be the second sea-link in the country, after the five km long Rajiv Gandhi Bandra-Worli Sea Link, inaugurated two years ago.

The MMRDA board formally accorded the implementation of MTHL project on public-private basis.

The total length of the main cable-stayed bridge plus the approach viaduct and road portion of MTHL is expected to be nearly 22 km.

However, there is also a proposal to construct an additional 28-km-long road to connect it to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, and add a railway line to the MTHL.

The MTHL, considered the state government's most ambitious project after RGBWSL, will be a world-class infrastructure project.

There are two similar bridges, including the 36-km long Hangzhou Bay Bridge in China and the 26-km long King Fahd Causeway in Saudi Arabia.