Mumbai-Goa highway to be widened to four lanes

The 472-km-long Mumbai-Goa national highway, which has turned into a death trap with 122 fatalities in accidents last year, will be widened and four-laned by December 2018. Prime minister Narendra Modi has now reviewed work on the much-delayed project with senior state government officials through the PRAGATI platform.

"On Wednesday, the prime minister reviewed the four-laning of the National Highway-66, particularly on the 84km Panvel-Indapur section," said Maharashtra chief secretary Swadheen Kshatriya, adding that the reasons for the delay in the Rs942.69 crore work, which was awarded in January 2011, were also discussed.

The total length of the highway in Maharashtra is 471.708km and the state plans to start work on the remaining 366.17km from Indapur to Zarap, which includes a 1,500m tunnel. The 21.538km road between Zarap and Patradevi on the Goa border has already been four-laned.

The Panvel-Indapur project, which originally had a June 2014 deadline, seeks to undertake four-laning on a build-operate-transfer basis with work on six major and 23 minor bridges, one flyover and pedestrian and vehicular underpasses being undertaken. It will have two toll plazas at Kharpada and Sukeli.

"Of the 84km stretch, work on 28km was completed but was stuck thereafter. We assured the prime minister that by December 2016, work on 48km will be completed, with the balance work up to 84km being finished by December 2017," Kshatriya said, adding that work on acquiring the remaining land would be completed in July.

"There were different reasons for the work being held up," Kshatriya further said, adding that the concessioner had faced financial problems. However, in a measure that will speed up work, permissions have been received for work on a 1,500m stretch in the core area of the Karnala bird sanctuary.

"Around 43.18% work on the Panvel-Indapur stretch has been completed in scattered stages," said a senior public works department (PWD) official.

For the remaining stretch from Indapur to Zarap, the Maharashtra PWD will undertake work with funds being granted by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). This work will be completed by December 2018, Kshatriya said.