To make road travel connectivity smoother between Mumbai and remote parts of the state, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has proposed the construction of a triangle shaped 450-km-long expressway connecting Nagpur, Gondia and Naxal affected district of Gadchiroli.
This will be an extension of the 700km Mumbai-Nagpur expressway, currently under construction and expected to be ready by the end of this year.
Currently, the distance between Mumbai and Nagpur by road is 17 hours and with the construction of the expressway, it is expected to come down to 10-12 hours. Further, the purpose of extension of the expressway is to bring down the distance of Gondia and Gadchiroli to around 2 hours which currently takes around 3 to 4 hours.
According to MSRDC officials, the proposed triangle network of expressway will not only boost connectivity between Mumbai with the Vidarbha region and tribal-dominated Gadchiroli district, but also improve trade and logistics.
An official from MSRDC shared, “The first phase of Mumbai-Nagpur expressway between Nagpur and Aurangabad is expected to open by the end of March 2022, and the remaining- by the year end.”
The MSRDC official further informed that they are currently conducting a detailed study for the extension of the 700-km-long Mumbai-Nagpur expressway. “The vehicles will have to pay toll even on the upcoming triangular expressway. However, the modalities are not decided yet,” shared the official.
The one-way toll amount proposed for the 700 km Mumbai-Nagpur expressway will be ₹1,212 for cars and will go up to ₹7,800 for commercial and heavy vehicles. Further, a bid document floated by MSRDC to conduct study of the alignment and feasibility reads, “Location and proposals for revenue generation by commercial exploitation along the corridor through the activities be also identified by means of Info-tech hubs, logistic parks, agricultural hubs, industrial hubs, educational hubs, medical hubs, tourist hubs, forest produce hubs, smart cities, resorts and other recreational centres etc.”
This will be followed by a detailed analysis of providing/leasing different utilities along the corridor like, water supply pipeline, gas pipeline, transmission line and telecommunication line, non-conventional energy sources (wind, solar etc.), optical fibre, etc. which will be conducted by various consultants.
Source : Hindustan Times
