The Centre has given environmental clearance to the 35-km coastal road project that connects North and South Mumbai. The Minister for Environment and Forests, Prakash Javadekar, granted clearance to the Rs 8,500-crore project. Construction is expected to start in December. According to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, coastal road will decongest traffic in Mumbai and create 91 hectares of green space. He said that the final notification would come by August 15. The Maharashtra government had signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Netherlands for technical support to develop the Mumbai coastal road and Metro rail projects. The coastal road is part of the Rs 60,000 crore transport infrastructure projects being undertaken by the state government.