The Maharashtra Samrudhi Highway, which claims to be a 'game changer' for Maharashtra's development, will be ready by the end of next year. About this highway ...
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The 'Maharashtra Prosperity Highway', the longest expressway in Asia with a length of 701 km connecting Nagpur and Mumbai, is now taking shape. This expressway will not only halve the travel time between the two cities, but will also bring a total of 24 districts in the state on the development highway.
Currently, Mumbai-Pune is the only expressway in Maharashtra. In the last two decades, this expressway has brought Mumbai and Pune closer together. The economic development of both the cities was rapid. This expressway has not only developed Mumbai and Pune. The villages along which the expressway passes also developed. Jobs were created. While the 95 km long expressway can change this picture, the construction of the expressway, which is seven times bigger in size, will surely widen the picture and bring development everywhere. It is also hoped that the highway will give a new dimension to the state's economy.
The capital and sub-capital cities of Mumbai and Nagpur are at a distance of 700 km from each other. Naturally, the nature of these cities is very different from each other, socially, culturally and economically. Mumbai's international reputation. That is not the fate of Nagpur. The port city of Mumbai is closer to all industries and businesses. Therefore, all the industries and businesses that came were centered in Mumbai. His circumference increased to Thane, Pune, Nashik and Aurangabad. Therefore, any development that was limited was limited to these cities. In that respect, Marathwada and the Vidarbha beyond that remained dry. Western Maharashtra has always been in this category. In that too, the rulers who have come so far are more or less from this belt. Therefore, Marathwada-Vidarbha remained deprived.
20 lakh jobs in two decades
Against this backdrop of regional imbalances, the importance of the Maharashtra Samrudhi Highway project undertaken by the state government was underlined. Because this highway starting from Nagpur will pass through ten districts namely Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldana, Jalna, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Nashik and Thane. Also, 14 districts bordering these ten districts will indirectly take over this highway. The construction of this highway is not limited to 'high speed traffic'. On the other hand, 20 Krishi Samrudhi Kendras will be set up at a fixed distance on both sides of the 701 km long Samrudhi Highway. These agricultural prosperity centers will be self-sufficient. All the state-of-the-art infrastructure services will be provided at this place. This will provide innumerable employment opportunities to the locals. Construction, tourism, freight, Transportation of agricultural commodities will also be booming due to Samrudhi Highway. Overall, the Maharashtra Samrudhi Highway is expected to provide employment opportunities to at least 20 lakh people in the next two decades.
Bounty for farmers and increasing investment
The Prosperity Highway will also be a boon for farmers. It will be easier for farmers to send their produce to Mumbai or directly abroad. Due to high speed transport, perishable goods will be available to farmers in Mumbai market in just a few hours. Also, there will be no delay in delivering agricultural goods to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and boarding them directly on a ship going abroad. This is because dry ports will be set up at Wardha and Jalna on the Samrudhi Highway and all the registration process will be done by the farmers at this place.
While starting the work of Maharashtra Samrudhi Highway, the government is making efforts to attract a large number of industries and businesses around this highway. Now that the Samrudhi Highway is taking shape, many entrepreneurs have started asking for permission to set up industries in the area. Therefore, migration to cities for employment can be largely avoided.
Why a new highway ?
The Prosperity Highway passes through two different geographical regions. One is the plateau region and the other is the hilly region. These two types of terrain created opportunities to test engineering skills while designing the Samrudhi Highway. Currently, the roads connecting Nagpur and Mumbai have steep slopes in hilly areas which are not very suitable for multi-axle vehicles. This slows down the flow of such vehicles. In addition, the load on them also causes them to slow down.
This is not the case with passenger vehicles. However, it takes 14 to 16 hours for passenger vehicles to cover the distance between the two cities. With this in mind, the Samrudhi Highway was designed to enable passenger and heavy vehicles to reach speeds of up to 150 kmph and halve travel time between the two cities. Although the speed limit on Samrudhi Highway to be constructed by access control system is 150 km per hour, the speed limit at the tunnel site will be 120 km per hour. Also, where there is a turn, the speed of vehicles will be limited. Tunnels will be constructed between Igatpuri and Kasara.
Samrudhi Highway will be 120 meters wide. It will have a 15 meter long divider and three lanes of 3.75 meters wide on each side of the highway. Three meter wide paved shoulders will also be constructed. Therefore, the speed of vehicles will not be limited. When designing the highway, where there is a forest area, the width will be 90 meters. Facilitation centers will be set up at 28 places on both sides of Samrudhi Highway. Facilities along the highway will include food plazas, rest rooms, petrol pumps, CNG stations, charging points, helipads, VIP lounges, business centers, landscapes, trauma centers, truck terminals, quick response teams, WiFi facilities, etc.
It is estimated that after the opening of Samrudhi Highway to traffic, at least 25,000 vehicles will pass through this route every day. It is assumed that this will increase year by year. Some of the vehicles will also enter the Samrudhi Highway through various interchanges being set up along the highway. The number of vehicles in Vidarbha and Marathwada is likely to increase in the near future. Therefore, after the completion of the highway, it is estimated that at least 70,000 vehicles will run on this route in the next five years.
If we understand the math of time-work-speed done by the new highway, then why the new highway when there are old roads connecting Mumbai-Nagpur? Such objections are resolved.
Mode of communication planning
The construction of Maharashtra Samrudhi Highway has been entrusted to Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. In the last few years, the Corporation has successfully completed the construction of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway to the Bandra-Worli Sea Bridge. Naturally, on the basis of this efficiency, the responsibility of the work of Samrudhi Highway was given to the corporation. The work was started under the leadership of Radheshyam Mopalwar, Vice President and Managing Director of the Corporation. Mopalwar insisted that the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation should take the path of dialogue to get the land required for the construction of the highway. For this purpose, communicators were appointed at the respective places to convey the importance of Samrudhi Highway project to the farmers through dialogue planning.
This was the first time that such a communicator had been hired for a government project. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation's experiment of encouraging farmers to donate land for the project through dialogue was a resounding success. Within a year, the corporation succeeded in acquiring the land required for the project (eight and a half thousand hectares). Now the proposal to implement the same model of dialogue elsewhere in the country is under consideration at the government level, which underscores the success of this model.
Beneficiaries are guided to invest
The Maharashtra Samrudhi Highway project has completely shattered the mentality that if farmers donate land for a government project, there will be a delay in getting the compensation. The fact that the compensation money was deposited in the farmer's bank account through RTGS in just a few hours helped to create a positive atmosphere about the project. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has provided guidance to farmers on whether to use the money for agriculture or to invest in agribusinesses.
From negativity to positivity
The Maharashtra Samrudhi Highway project was initially opposed by landowners in all the districts as it was a bitter experience of what happens to them after acquiring land for a government project, what lights they have to face to actually get the compensation after land acquisition. The question of whether there is a need for an expressway while the roads connecting Nagpur and Mumbai exist at present. It was also proposed that the existing roads should be repaired or their width should be increased. But considering the existing roads, there would be endless difficulties. The Maharashtra Samrudhi Highway was designed with all these factors in mind as a series of social and environmental barriers were to be created, thus increasing the cost of the project enormously.
The landowners' opposition to the Samrudhi Highway was justified on the basis of previous experiences with government projects. But through dialogue, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation succeeded in turning this atmosphere of negativity into positivity. Opposition to the project gradually subsided due to the fivefold compensation for the land, the immediate deposit directly to the beneficiary's bank through the RTGS method, and guidance on the proper investment of the money received.
The landowners started responding to the project as the land was being purchased through direct purchase. The credibility of the project was enhanced by the payment money being deposited directly in the bank account within a day or two after the purchase. The process of land acquisition became smoother as the edge of opposition began to blunt. At the same time, the guarantee of agricultural Samrudhi Kendras to be set up at regular intervals on both sides of the Samrudhi Highway, thereby creating future employment opportunities for the project. The media also played a key role in promoting the positive aspects of the project.
Direct communication with the beneficiaries, transparency in transactions and prompt payment are the goals of the Trisutri Maharashtra Samrudhi Highway. Therefore, it is hoped that this dream will come true and the Samrudhi Highway will be a game changer for Maharashtra.
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