The Bandra-Worli Sea Link will soon get a stamp of recognition, with the postal department planning to issue a stamp dedicated to the structure.”The proposal will be placed before the Philatelic Advisory Committee’s meeting by June-end,” Manju Kumar, director (philately) of the communication and IT ministry wrote to Siddharth Bothra, vice-president of All India Philatelist’s Association.Bothra, elated that his proposal sent in March has started gathering momentum, said the communication from Kumar meant the bridge was all set to be on a stamp. ”It takes at least two months for the formal release,” he added.
In the past, Howrah Bridge, also known as Rabindra Setu, as well as Vidyasagar Setu, both over the Hooghly in Calcutta, have postal stamps released by the department of posts.Similarly postage stamps have been taken out to commemorate successful services offered by Mahatma Gandhi bridge on Ganges between Patna and Hajipur, and a Pamban bridge between Indian coast and Rameswaram on Pamban island.Bothra had written to communication and IT minister that the Bandra-Worli Sea Link was the first cable-stayed bridge over the sea in the country. ”Coupled with the fact that the aesthetically designed pylons have an extremely complex geometry and one of the longest spans for concrete deck, the challenges encountered in building the sea link were formidable and so, undisputedly it is a monument of modern India,” Bothra had told the minister recently.
The Sea Link reduces travel time between and Worli from 39 minutes to 7 minutes even as average daily traffic of around 42,000 take the route against all expected estimate of 70,000 vehicles. The project was initiated more than 10 years ago in 1999 and was supposed to be completed within 5 years but it was delayed due to public interest litigations
The long-awaited Bandra-Worli sea link, seen as an engineering marvel, weighs equivalent to that of 50,000 African elephants. The steel wire used is equivalent to the circumference of the earth. The 5.6 kilometre-long cable stayed bridge is 63 times the height of the Qutub Minar. Earlier, the bridge was to be opened to public on June 16. It has consumed 90,000 tonnes of cement, which would suffice to make five ten-storied buildings.(source- Times of India)
