If today Maharashtra is known for its public transport facilities and road connectivity, credit must be shared with the vast network of roads, highways and expressways which have been developed over the decades. The state has always been at the forefront of the economic development and hence has the highest state GDP in India. It has planned this roadway to propel the prosperity of villages and extend it to cities and major metropolises. This network is taking the state for an evenly spread development. The inauguration of the final phase of the 701 km long Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg on Thursday, thus, marks a major step in the state’s infrastructure quantum leap.
The state capital, Mumbai, is justifiably known as a global metropolitan. Its connection with Nagpur, the second capital, is vital in different ways. The completion of Samruddhi, named after legendary leader Balasaheb Thackeray, in record time has endorsed the drive to accelerate development to reach every major city by constructing highways as a means of achieving this objective.
Maharashtra was the first state in India to conclusively prove that road connectivity is a key to bridge the developmental gap. Comprehensive planning plays a crucial role in this scenario. Besides boosting a state’s economic growth, it also offers numerous career and business opportunities. The state has shown by commissioning the Mumbai-Pune Expressway way back in 1999-2000. A pilot project of this nature, the expressway connecting Mumbai and Pune reduced the road distance and travel time, enhanced safety and speeded up the pace of economic growth.
To promote the development sector, the state government had decided to connect Mumbai and Nagpur. It is to be connected soon with the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the Shivadi-Nhava Sea Link via the Navi Mumbai airport, which will be operational in the near future, Samruddhi will cut down the travel time between Nagpur and Mumbai to eight hours from the present uncertain many more hours.
It will pass through ten districts. They are Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldana in Vidarbha as well as Jalna and Aurangabad in Marathwada and Ahilyanagar, Nashik and Thane in western Maharashtra. Through interchanges, 14 districts will be indirectly connected to Samruddhi. Thus, 24 out of 36 districts in the state will benefit due to Samruddhi’s commissioning.
Samruddhi is envisioned in such a way that weaving in the ten districts directly and 14 districts indirectly will give rise to Krushi Samruddhi Kendras (Agro Prosperity Centres or APCs). Development 18 APCs by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation will mark the beginning of a new initiative in rural economic planning in India.
While planning Samruddhi, certain priorities were determined. Accordingly, the primary considerations were wildlife conservation and environmental protection. As some segments of Samruddhi pass through eco-sensitive zones, it has been ensured that a free movement of the wildlife along the route is not hampered neither their safety is threatened. All the necessary measures in this regard were integrated into the planning by obtaining guidance of the Indian Wildlife Institute, Dehradun.
The completion of Samruddhi has established some new benchmarks in highway construction. For instance, latest technology and future transportation visions have been given a weightage. There are plans to create amenities on both sides at a distance of about 50 km. Another major feature is the installation of charging stations for electric vehicles. Therefore, electric charging will be provided among 21 Wayside Amenities on both sides of Samruddhi. Similarly, facility of ‘Intelligent Traffic Management System’ (ITMS) will be available. These include a road toll collection system, integrated transport management system and optical fiber cable (OFC).
Nearly 550 hectares of land has been handed over to the forest department for wildlife conservation as a compensation. In all, more than two lakh trees are estimated to have been affected during the construction of Samruddhi. In future, it will be flanked by magnificent greenery all the way. Incidentally, it will be the first expressway in the country with 12.68 lakh trees, 12.87 lakh plants and 3.27 lakh shrubs planted alongside and in the median of the expressway with geotagging of each tree and drip irrigation facility to turn it into an advanced green expressway. The cost for this green beautification is estimated at around Rs 900 crore.
There are some interesting sidelights connected with Samruddhi. One of them is that a farmer family has received the highest ever monetary compensation against land acquisition. A whopping Rs. 23.40 crore went directly into the bank account of the family for parting with 9.5 acres of land for the project. The project has recorded the fastest land acquisition ever done for any infrastructure projects in India. Nearly 8800 hectares of land was acquired across within only 18 months. Of the six tunnels constructed, the 7.7-km twin tunnels between Kasara Ghat and Igatpuri are the longest highway tunnels in Maharashtra. In emergencies like natural disaster or for military operations, Samruddhi shall facilitate fast response by temporarily converting the expressway into a runway to land or take off airplanes.
Samruddhi promises a zero fatality and will have CCTVs and free telephone booths at every 5 km for emergency situation connectivity.
Being dotted with densely hilly terrain at several places, the engineering teams had to rip through hillocks to construct the road. It was among the most challenging road construction projects. For the first time, a single-layer concrete paving machine was used for the 15-meter width of the road concrete slabs on either side of the highway. Of the 33 major bridges, five bridges at Nagpur, Wardha, Nasik, Buldhana and Thane have theme-based iconic designs. The Wardha Bridge will be designed as a ‘Chakra’ (wheel), representing ‘Make-in-India’ concept and homage to Mahatma Gandhi. The bridge in Buldana will showcase a bird representing women empowerment.
Happy that Samruddhi has been completed in record time, the Maharashtra government has announced a 225-km eastern extension of Samruddhi. Once operational, this offshoot will cover tribal districts of Bhandara, Gondia and Gadchiroli in Vidarbha. Although they are blessed with natural resources, their main grouse is that they have been suffering from chronic poverty due to a lack of road and rail connectivity. This proposed extension will pave the way for effective outreach for improvement in health, education and industrial. As a consequence, there will be largescale capital investment that will generate of mass employment, direct and indirect. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has already announced that Gadchiroli will get a brand new airport. Such economic and social transformation will also eliminate Naxal menace from this belt and bring the deprived population in the mainstream.
With the opening of the third Vashi creek bridge and Samruddhi on Thursday, Mumbai’s connection with the mainland has crossed another milestone. Once the Navi Mumbai airport starts functioning, the connectivity of Maharashtra with the rest of the country and the world will have achieved an important goalpost.
A Column By
Dilip Chaware – Senior Editor
A media professional for 43 years, with extensive experience of writing on
a variety of subjects; he is also a documentary producer and book author.
