Thane | Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday inaugurated the north channel of Thane Creek Bridge 3 and also laid foundation stones of seven new bridges on creeks between Rewas in Raigad and Redi in Sindhudurg.

The new Thane creek bridge is 3180 metres long and costs Rs 559 crore, while the seven bay bridges will have a cumulative length of 26.70 kilometres and come up at a total cost of Rs 7,851 crore.

The bridges will come up on important creeks such as Dharamatar, Kundlika, Agardanda, Bankot, Kelshi, Jaigad and Kunkeshwar, an official said.

"There was demand for these bridges since Maharashtra was established. Their construction, which will start now, is a Diwali gift for residents of Konkan. Moreover, the proposed Konakn greenfield expressway will reduce the travel time from Mumbai to Konkan to five hours," Shinde said.

The north channel of the Thane Creek Bridge 3 will be open for traffic from Monday, the CM announced, adding work on the south channel was progressing rapidly.