Mumbai, Nov 4 : The cabinet committee on infrastructure, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday approved the expansion of the Uttan-Virar sea link up to the upcoming Vadhavan Port in Palghar district.

Fadnavis said that this is part of the government's plan to address traffic congestion, adding that the government is expanding various infrastructure facilities to address traffic snarls on the major routes of Mumbai, Western Express Highway, SV Road and Link Road.

The Chief Minister said that the length of the Uttan-Virar Sea Bridge project is 55.12 km, and the main sea bridge will be 24.35 km long. In this project, a 9.32 km long Uttan link road, 2.5 km Vasai link road and 18.95 km Virar link road will be constructed and extended up to the Vadhavan Port.

'The work of North-South road connectivity in Mumbai is underway, and the work of South Coast Road, Bandra Worli Sea Bridge, Atal Setu Bridge has been completed, and the work of Orange Gate Tunnel, Versova-Bandra Sea Bridge, North Coast Road, Delhi Mumbai Highway, Sewri-Worli Elevated Road project is in progress,' he said.

He added that it is proposed to construct the Uttan Virar Sea Bridge and Virar Alibaug Multipurpose Corridor.

'This will make travel in Mumbai seamless and will improve traffic to a great extent,' he said.

Fadnavis said that it is necessary to build a ring road along with an inter-ring road for the upcoming Kumbh Mela in Nashik to solve the problem of devotees coming from seven routes.

The work on these ring roads is planned to be completed by March-June 2027. At the same time, approval was given today to build a 66 km inter-ring road in Nashik.

The Chief Minister added that approval has also been given for the land acquisition required for these roads, and the expenditure for this will be borne by the Nashik Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority.

Considering Pune as the second most populous city in Maharashtra, and new projects are being set up to keep the transport system smooth, the Chief Minister directed the administration to plan for the completion of all these projects in three years by making the metro in Pune.

'Various projects have been undertaken to create a metro network in Pune. The work of the 4.4 km-long elevated metro from Pune Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to Nigdi has been undertaken, and this project will be completed by January 2027. The underground metro from Swargate to Katraj will be completed by March 2029. The corridor from Vanaz to Chandni Chowk and Ramwadi to Wagholi/Vitthalwadi will be completed by July 2029,' he said and instructed to complete the Pune Metro Line 3 at the earliest and immediately start the land acquisition process for the Kharadi-Hadapsar-Swargate-Khadakwasla project.

While constructing the Hadapsar - Loni Kalbhor corridor and Hadapsar Bus Depot to Saswad corridor, CM Fadnavis instructed to extend this route to the upcoming Purandar Airport in Pune district through a tunnel.

He also asked the administration to plan roads ana d metro to reach Purandar Airport and also create large-scale parking facilities through multi-level integration.

/IANS