Environment Ministry clears construction of the 35km Nariman Point-Kandivali coastal road in Mumbai

The Western Express Highway in Mumbai is a nightmare. On a good day Bert takes an hour and a half for his 30-odd-kilometre commute to the office. On a bad day that could easily double. It doesn’t help that the road supports over 60 per cent of Mumbai’s traffic. Widening the road isn’t really a possibility so the Maharashtra Government looked at another alternative altogether - build a brand new one on reclaimed land from the sea.

Proposals like this usually take years to clear but the new government has generated an image for fast clearance of ecologically sensitive projects. For better or worse. So what exactly is the coastal road? It is an estimated Rs 8,500 crore project that will connect the south of Mumbai from Nariman Point with the north at Kandivali. This is being done after a 37-year …