Mumbai, battling traffic snarls and rising congestion, will soon have a network of ring roads that will reduce the travel time in the city to under an hour. The planning authority of the metropolitan region in Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), has approved building an additional 90-kilometre road network at an estimated cost of ₹58,517 crore, The Indian Express Reported.


This network of roads is aimed to free Mumbai of its main bottlenecks in next five years. The plan will also allow an easy commute to the Gujarat border in the North, Konkan Maharashtra in the South and to Western Maharashtra.


Under the project, outer Ring Roads will be connected to inner Ring Roads. The total project cost of all infrastructure projects including metro, new roads, bridges, flyovers, slum development in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region is estimated at ₹3 lakh crore.


"Mumbai In Minutes"


The "Mumbai in Minutes" project is a vision to reduce travel time across Mumbai by building a network of ring roads that will connect the city by sea, creek, forests, and urban highways. It will help in managing the increasing traffic which is expected to be caused by other major projects like the Navi Mumbai International Airport and Wadhwan Port. Most of these new roads will be tolled and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and National Highways Authority of India will join MRDMA. 


"When we say Mumbai in minutes, it should not take more than 59 minutes to travel from one end of the city to the other," MMRDA Commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee said.


"With MMRDA, MSRDC, and BMC working together, the future of transportation in Mumbai and Thane looks promising," Mukherjee added.


Need To Modernise India's Infrastructure


Recently, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, announced plans for a 14-lane highway that will link Atal Setu with Bengaluru, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Pune's Ring Road. Construction work on this highway is reportedly expected to start within the next six months. Gadkari said this new route could reduce traffic on the existing Mumbai-Pune Expressway by as much as 50 per cent, greatly easing travel for residents of Bengaluru and surrounding areas.


He said there is a need to modernise India's infrastructure while enhancing the quality of life for both rural and urban communities.