Mumbai: The construction of two large underground car parks remains slow-moving despite clear SC directives and growing financial implications, states the audit report of the state’s principal accountant general. The car parks, planned at Amarsons Garden and Haji Ali interchange , were to be built by L&T, which secured the contract in 2018. While the original completion deadline was Sep 2022, the timeline has been extended thrice, most recently to May 2025, stated the audit report.
A Supreme Court order of Sep 2022 had allowed the car parks to be constructed in parallel with road development, warning that delays would result — defeating the public interest purpose of the Coastal Road project to decongest Mumbai’s arterial routes.
The court had also laid down strict conditions prohibiting any commercial or residential use of reclaimed land and disallowing further reclamation without permission. But the Feb 2024 Monthly Progress Report (MPR) submitted by the Project Management Consultant (PMC) found that no meaningful progress had been made.
Large mounds of construction waste continued to occupy the proposed sites, and actual construction work had not started. The Amarsons Garden car park was estimated at Rs 19.43 crore, and Haji Ali at Rs 88.52 crore, taking the combined value to Rs 107.95 crore.