Mumbai cross-harbor bridge plans changing

The Indian state of Maharashtra is planning to build a cross-ocean bridge linking the city of Mumbai with Navi Mumbai (or New Mumbai), which sits east across the harbor from the peninsular city.

   The state has taken up the mantle of constructing the project after the national government, which was originally slated to build the bridge, announced an indefinite delay.

   One major change to the plan, however, is that the state will only build road lanes and not rail lines on the bridge. That could have a significant impact on cargo movement. Navi Mumbai is home to the Jawaharlal Nehru port, India's biggest container gateway. Meanwhile, Mumbai Port (which is located in the city, on the peninsula) is being redeveloped to also handle a significant amount of container traffic.

   The cross-harbor bridge was initially intended to be a two-way conduit for container traffic, with help transit times for containers arriving at Jawaharlal Nehru and destined for Mumbai city, as well as providing a link for containers arriving at the Mumbai port to be connected to the national rail system. A dedicated freight rail corridor between Jawaharlal Nehru and New Delhi is set to be finished in 2012, around the time that the Mumbai port (as well as a planned offshore container terminal near Mumbai) would be getting traffic.

   The state has said that the bridge won't include rail lines for now, but as a report in Monday's Economic Times said, not now often means never. And there's no guarantee that the costly bridge will get built even by the state. There are environmental concerns as well as cost concerns, as the bridge would cross mudflats that a flock of 10,000 flamingoes use as a second home. 

Source: American Shipper