MUMBAI, May 2: The Public Works Department (PWD) of the state government has undertaken the task of repairing and strengthening the protection wall on the Marine Lines seafront, but the plan is being delayed due to a financial crunch.

The project includes the construction of a 540-meter-long parapet from NCPA to Oberoi Hotel where no wall exists at present. The upper layer of the wall will be covered with 2 tonnes of tetrapode, and the secondary layer will have a concrete block of irregular shape. There will be 100 kg block of irregular shape at the toe (bending angle) which bears the maximum pressure from waves. The 70-meter round-shaped area of the shore at the end of Nariman Point will also be repaired in the same way. A committee consisting of officers from PWD and Central Water Power Research Station (CWPRS) was formed to look into the matter and recommend measures to be taken. The committee observed the wall needs to be strengthened as it gets damaged due to pressure exerted by waves. It also noted the main road (Netaji Subash Road) needs to be protected from the overflow of water. he fate of the project, however, hangs in the balance as the financial requirement which comes to around 10 crore has not been met.The scheme will be financed by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mumbai Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MMRDA) and the urban department of the state government, with each of them equally bearing one third of the total cost.

``This was decided in the meeting held recently at Mantralaya which was attended by state chief secretary Dinesh Afzalpurkar and PWD, MMRDA and BMC officials,'' a PWD official informed. However, no budgetary provision has been made for the work so far.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.