Mumbai to get its most expensive skywalk, but when?

Arundhati Konar, YourMoneySite.com

Remember the Mumbai skywalk at Nana Chowk, which was scheduled for completion by 2009? Well, it’s past three years since the target date and the work is still in progress. Reports suggest that this 510-metre long skywalk at Grant Road will be city’s most expensive and cost as much as Rs 50 crore!

Whether or not this skywalk be of any help to the people of the city, but with the project stepping into its fourth year, it has for sure become a headache for the residents staying nearby. At a time when the country is dwelling with economic problems specially inflation, questions are being raised on the worth of the never-ending construction of this skywalk.

The price of the project which was initially quoted at Rs 38.96 crore rose by 30% to Rs 50.48 crore, thanks to the delay in its construction.

According to reports, the skywalk will be as long as 510 metre and wide as 4 metre. So far, only 248 metre of work has been completed.

Of this whopping amount, cost for provisions for skywalk’s beautification will be Rs 10.8 crore. Reports say that the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Ltd (MSRDC) will be using LED lights and stress bars (specially imported from the United Kingdom) worth Rs 3.8 crore and Rs 7-8 crore respectively for the skywalk. However, authorities seem to have chosen to remain silent on ‘who would bear the cost of the charges for electricity guzzled by the LED lights’. Rather, the officials are glad enough to maintain that ‘they were merely constructing the iconic structure for the MSRDC.’

Sources: http://www.yourmoneysite.com/news/2012/jun/mumbai-to-get-its-most-expensive-skywalk-but-when.html