Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Atal Setu, India's longest sea bridge. Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar, and Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule graced the occasion.
Soon after the inauguration Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Dr Sanjay Mukherjee briefed the PM about the key aspects of the historic bridge which is also termed the Mumbai-Trans Harbour Link.
The PM also posed for the shutterbugs in the financial capital and will now travel on the bridge which is a gift to the nation. The project was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The PM travelled on the Atal Setu named after the former late PM and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart, Bharat Ratna, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and reached Panvel. The bridge, built at a cost of around ₹17,840 crore, connects Sewri in Mumbai to Nhava Sheva and will ease the travel time between Mumbai and Pune to 20 minutes, two of the biggest cities in Maharashtra.
Senior IAS officer Sanjay Khandare said it was a moment to cherish for him as he helmed the project for four years. Khandare, a 1996 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre, was in charge of the ambitious project, then known as Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, for four years till February 2020, as the then Additional Metropolitan Commissioner of MMRDA.
This is a bridge not just of steel and concrete, but of possibilities. It unlocks new horizons for Mumbai and India, paving the way for economic growth and a brighter future, Khandare, who is now Principal Secretary, of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department of the state government.
The total length of this sea bridge is 21.8km out of which, 16.5km length is over the sea. It will provide faster connectivity to Mumbai International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport and will also reduce the travel time from Mumbai to Pune, Goa and South India. Ahead of the inauguration, PM Modi offered prayers at Ramkund in Maharastra's Nashik and cleaned the Kalaram Mandir as well.
At Nashik's National Youth Festival, the PM lashed out at the grand old party, saying 'Parivaarwaad' politics has caused immense damage in the country. Building hope among Indians, he also said that we as a nation have to become the world’s third-largest economy.
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