The Hindu Business Line : 3 consortiums shortlisted for sea-bridge project

The lesser flamingo preferred brackish water and is a habitat-specific. The birds spend nearly eight and a half months at Sewri but they do not breed here.

Mumbai , Aug. 2

Three consortiums have been shortlisted for the six-lane Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project, touted to be the world's longest sea-bridge after the two bridges at Hanzhou near Shanghai. The Rs 4,000-crore project consists of building a 22-km bridge from Sewri in Central Mumbai to Nhava in Navi Mumbai.

The Maharashtra Government had recently appointed the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) as entrepreneur to implement the project on a build-own-transfer (BOT) basis.

The MSRDC invited bids for pre-qualification by advertising for global tenders.

Pre-qualification

Six consortiums submitted pre-qualification bids and three consortiums have been approved. They are Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), SKIL and John Laing Construction (UK), Larsen and Toubro, Gammon India Ltd and Sisterna Ltd (Russia) and Indian Farmers Fertilisers Corporation (IFFCO), Skanska Cementation and Italian Thai Development Company and MAEDA (Japan).

The three pre-qualified bidders have been issued request for proposal (RFP) document on July 28. The bids will be received in three months and the award of work is likely in December. The Minister for Public Works, Mr Anil Deshmukh, said that various studies had been carried out in the last 30-35 years for the project.

Fate of Flamingoes

With the pre-qualification bidders being selected for the MTHL project, the fate of the flamingo habitat at Sewri Bay is almost sealed. The steering group appointed by the Maharashtra Government in 1980 under Mr J.R.D. Tata conducted a feasibility study of the project and recommended implementation of the Sewri-Nhava project.

The MSRDC has conducted various studies, including an environment impact assessment, techno feasibility study and these "comprehensive" environment studies were submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, which issued an environmental clearance on March 11 2005.

Bird lovers' protest

Since the early 1990s, the number of flamingoes coming to Sewri Bay has been steadily rising. The Bay is shallow and sheltered and has appropriate food for the flamingoes. Environmentalists and bird lovers have been protesting the trans harbour link, as the bridge will be built right at the expanse where 15,000 to 20,000 flamingoes come every year.

Mr Sunjoy Monga, naturalist and writer, who launched a campaign to save Mumbai's flamingoes last year, said that about 95 per cent of the birds were lesser flamingoes, a threatened species.

The lesser flamingo preferred brackish water and is a habitat-specific and the birds spend nearly eight and a half months at Sewri. He clarified that they did not breed here.

The clearance granted by the Ministry says that silence zones of about 2 km from the Sewri side must be created, apart from other conditions.

Silent zones

Since the Elephanta Caves are about three km from the proposed sea link, the Archaeological Survey of India has also given a no-objection certificate.

The concept of "silence zones" was meaningless, Mr Monga said. "You are building such a huge bridge and you cannot rule out the amount of work and noise that will be generated. The construction will irrevocably alter the nature of the Bay," he said.

For once, environmentalists were not against the trans harbour link and two years ago, they had suggested it should be realigned. However, the Government did not accept that suggestion, which could have saved the birds, he said.

The sheltered bay attracts a lot of flamingoes, both the greater and the lesser varieties apart from several waders and birds of prey. The area is designated as an important bird area (IBA) and is a popular place for viewing the birds and studying them.

Shift plea ignored

The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and other NGOs too had launched campaigns against the trans harbour link, demanding that the project site be shifted 500 metres away.

The bridge goes over the Bay area and this small adjustment would have made a big difference, according to Mr Isaac Kehimkar of the BNHS.

Moreover, the environment impact assessment of the project did not take into account the fact that it was such an important bird area, he said.

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Maharashtra | Wildlife

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page