Zeenews Bureau
Mumbai: The inauguration of Mumbai’s iconic sea link hit controversy when the Maharashtra government chose to invite Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan as special guest in the function.
The Bandra-Worli sea link which was inaugurated jointly by Amitabh Bachchan and Maharashtra Dy CM Chhagan Bhujbal, revealed the growing chasm within the ruling Congress and NCP as Congress President Sonia Gandhi had been invited last year to flag off the first phase of the same link.
Despite Amitabh Bachhan’s sour relations with the Congress, the decision to invite him, not only angered several party leaders but also kept many of them, including Maharashtra Congress chief Kripashankar Singh away from the function.
Alleging that Amitabh Bachchan’s name was deliberately not mentioned in the invitation card, Singh said that he was totally oblivious of the former being invited and he learnt about it from news paper reports. Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan, however, later said the actor`s name was not there in the newspaper advertisement and that he did not know who invited Bahchan.
However, stressing the absence of any political motive behind it, Chavan said that Bachchan was invited as he was a resident of Mumbai and was more easily accessible.
He later retracted from his statement, later when an explanation was demanded by the Congress High Command, saying that he had no idea about the invitation. He said what had happened had happened and that Mumbai Congress was unhappy as some members were not sent the invitation.
NCP leader Tariq Anwar, however, said the Congress knew about Bachchan being invited and that the party should not politicise the issue.
The sea link is now complete as four more lanes were added today.
With eight lanes stretching up to 4 kilometres, the sea link will connect Bandra to Worli in seven minutes, thanks to a speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour.
A portion of the sea link was opened late last year for the city. Today, four more lanes have been added.
The four lanes that opened last year will handle traffic entering the city; the four lanes opening today will service those leaving the island city.
The toll is Rs 50 each way, a return passage costs Rs 75.
The 4-kilometre sea link has cost the city 1634 crores. Work on the project began in 1999.
The next phase will extend to Haji Ali in South Mumbai.
