Mumbai, June 30 : Congress president Sonia Gandhi inaugurated the much-awaited Bandra Worli sea link on Tuesday.

The 5.6 kilometers long cable-stayed bridge has been designed to allow for speedy road travel between Bandra and Worli in and traffic-clogged city of Mumbai.

The eight-lane bridge will reduce the travel time between the two points from 60-90 minutes to 6-8 minutes.

It costs Rs. 50 to take a trip on the link, and will cost Rs. 75 for a round trip- it would be nothing compared to the Rs 100 crore per year that the link will save in the vehicle operating cost alone.

The project, which was conceived in the 1990s was plagued by a series of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) from fishermen and environmentalists, the work was finally started in October 2004.

The agitations forced The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to make around 80 per cent changes in the design of the bridge, which increased the cost of the project from Rs 1,306 to Rs 1,650 crore.

The link is equipped with state-of-the-art systems for traffic monitoring, emergency support and an automated toll system.

Two cable stayed bridges, a 600-meter long at Bandra channel and the other twin-tower supported 350 meter long at the Worli channel. It rests on two towers, each 126 metres tall or equivalent to a 43-storeyed building.

People said that the new bridge would save a lot of commuting time.

"The construction of the sea link would save people''s time," said Leen Montri, another resident. (ANI)