MAHARASHTRA’S ROAD TO PROSPERITY

In the 21st century, life has become fast paced. Every one seems to be working hard towards achieving their goals and that too in a short span of time. Development has become a key word of these times. What is true for the individual is also true for the state. A strong network of internal district roads is considered to be the first step towards accelerating this rate of development. The city of Mumbai is known to be the economic capital of not just Maharashtra, but of the entire country. If this financial capital connects with various districts and cities in the state, then the entire state will gain new heights at the national level. This is the reason why the Government of Maharashtra has planned a project called “Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg”, which will connect Nagpur with Mumbai. The execution of this project is expected to start very soon. What is this project? What will be its features? Read further to know more…

The proposed Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg will not just connect two big cities of Nagpur and Mumbai; but will also connect 10 districts in Maharashtra along its way. The districts which will be connected are – Thane, Nashik, Ahmadnagar, Aurangabad, Jalna, Buldhana, Washim, Amravati, Wardha and Nagpur.

Today, the journey between Nagpur to Mumbai takes about 12 hours to cover a distance of more than 800 kilometres. The Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg will reduce this distance to 700 kilometres and the travel time by almost 50%; which means that, it will take only 7 to 8 hours to cover the distance of 700 kilometres between Nagpur and Mumbai. This will in turn bring a qualitative change in the journey by saving fuel and time. It will also make the journey more enjoyable.

This expressway will be of 6 lanes and will consist of many modern facilities. This modernity is also reflected in the safety measures on this road as it is always one of the main concerns for the administration. Giving utmost priority to safety, a network of security cameras will be installed along this expressway to keep a check on the smallest incidence happening here.

In case of any emergency, natural disaster or in a war-like situation, a facility to land an airplane on the expressway is proposed by temporarily converting the expressway to a runway.

To give an impetus to tourism, nearby tourist and religious places will also be well connected to the expressway.

Long queues at the toll plazas on the expressway hold back vehicles and reduce the speed, creating an unnecessary hindrance to a smooth journey. As a solution to this problem, it is proposed that the newly built Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg will have modern technology with the help of which cashless toll booths will be installed on this expressway.

In the process of building this project the administration has been careful about making a minimum impact on the environment since the beginning. So, this expressway will be built with the concept of “Green Corridor” and environmentally sound practices will be followed in the process of its construction.

To connect the rural areas along this expressway with modern communication technologies, fibre optic cables will be laid. The administration is also very keen on making the entire expressway fully Wi-Fi. Along with fibre optic cables, gas pipelines will also be laid under the expressway.

The expressway is envisioned as a ‘Zero Fatality Mahamarg’; for which the administration is taking special steps to avoid any accidents on this road.

The expressway will host resting spots, hotels and motels all along which will provide essential services to the commuters.

There is always a big demand for perishable goods like fruits and vegetables, flowers etc from within and from outside the country. This expressway is going to be extremely important for these perishable items as it will help these goods to reach the markets in time, so that they can get a good price. Many districts will be well connected with JNPT in Mumbai because of this expressway.

This multi-purpose expressway is expected to open for commuters in the second half of 2019. There is no doubt that this project will give a new direction to the development of Maharashtra.

The process of joint measurement survey has been completed as of today. What was this process about? What is the current status of this project? Read about this in the next chapter…