Maharashtra needs Rs850 crore for land acquisition alone.
The Maharashtra government, on Tuesday, said it was awaiting funds from the Centre to the tune of Rs1,000 crore as viability gap funding to completely upgrade the accident-prone Mumbai-Goa highway. Work on partial widening of the road has already begun.
The plans include the construction of an underpass, retaining walls and two trauma centres, one at Sangameshwar and the other at Mahad, along the highway.
Moreover, there are 41 government health centres along the highway where victims can be rushed to, Maharashtra PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal told the state legislature. “We are also working on flattening gradients and sharp curves, and widening. Work on 14 of the total 31 bridges has been completed as per standards,” he said.
DNA had carried a story on Tuesday on how there was a death for every kilometre along the highways connecting the city, including the Mumbai-Goa and the Mumbai-Pune highways.
“The Mumbai-Goa highway is a national highway, and the Centre releases funds for its maintenance and upgrade, which are implemented by the state PWD ministry. Work on widening the highway in stretches is already on. After an inspection, central government officials suggested certain additional safety works such as building the underpass and retaining, which have led to cost escalation from Rs183 crore to Rs274 crore,” Bhujbal said.
“The state has sent a proposal to the Centre to widen the highway in four phases of Rs3,500 crore under the National Highway Development Programme, so that we can get Rs850 crore for land acquisition and an additional sum of Rs1,000 crore as viability gap funding from the Centre,” he said.
“The state government is following up with the Centre on this at various levels,” he added.
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