My govt put Missing Link project on hold over safety concerns: former CM Prithviraj Chavan

Mumbai, Jul 9 (PTI) Former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said the Congress-NCP government headed by him did not 'stall' the ambitious Missing Link project but decided to put it on hold temporarily for safety and cost reassessment. Speaking to PTI, the Congress leader also said the awarding of contracts for the project, executed under the present BJP-led government, and the increase in its cost needed scrutiny. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is facing flak after a landslide hit the newly constructed Missing Link bridge on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, defended the project in the assembly on Wednesday and claimed that the Congress-NCP government had stalled it. The Missing Link, which opened to traffic on May 1, is a 13.3-km tunnel-bridge stretch on the busy 94-km-long expressway. It bypasses the Lonavala-Khandala ghat section and reduces the travel distance by 5.7 km. Chavan told PTI that the project was conceived during his tenure, and his government had approved its concept and feasibility studies. But IIT engineers who examined the project expressed safety concerns, he said. "The project was our idea. The project report was submitted in December 2013. I put it on hold only because we were not satisfied with the safety issues and wanted a thorough review," Chavan said. His government wanted to ensure that all calculations were reviewed, safety checks were carried out, wind tunnel studies were conducted and project costs were reassessed because the estimates did not appear realistic, he further said. "No such tunnel work under a water body like Lonavala Lake had been done in India. Such projects had been built abroad... This was to be the tallest bridge in India. Wind velocity and earthquake studies were required to be done thoroughly. This government has done them," said Chavan, an engineer by training himself. "I had no objection to the Missing Link. It was a necessary project and it has now been completed. I believe the required parameters were eventually met," he said. However, the awarding of contracts required greater scrutiny, he said, asking whether the quality of construction was independently assessed. He also alleged that the project's cost rose sharply. "The cost has increased. If our government comes to power, we will conduct an audit," Chavan said. He also called for comparing the project approval files from his tenure with those cleared by the present government to determine the reasons for the increase in project costs. PTI MR KRK