MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday inaugurated the final 76-km-long stretch of the Samruddhi Mahamarg, making the entire 701-km Mumbai-Nagpur corridor fully functional and bringing down the travel time between the two cities to 8 hours from around 18 hours. Fadnavis described the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg as an “engineering marvel” and said this “economic corridor” would play a vital role in the state’s development. Fadnavis said by connecting the expressway with the proposed Vadhvan port, they are planning to develop it as an “economic corridor” of the State.

 

A smart integrated traffic management system (ITMS) will be installed on the expressway soon, the CM said. “We have given right of way to Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) to lay a pipeline alongside the road from Konkan to Nagpur to Gadchiroli so that all the industries, including the upcoming Gadchiroli Steel City, situated alongside the road will use gas as fuel for their operations,” he said. Fadnavis said it is a moment of happiness and also an “accomplishment of the dream” for his Mahayuti Government. “The Samruddhi Mahamarg is an economic corridor of Maharashtra’s prosperity. It has connected 24 districts of the State with Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) near Mumbai. Soon, the highway will be connected to the upcoming Vadhvan port,” Fadnavis said. The expressway has a frequency of 10 lakh vehicles per month at present and this will grow further, Fadnavis said, adding he was happy the project was started and completed under the Mahayuti Government, and that all three of its top leaders (CM and two deputy CMs) were present.

 

“The proposed Shaktipeeth Expressway will similarly bring about economic turnaround of Marathwada. Work on it will begin soon,” the CM added. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde termed it a “game changer” project for the State and urged people to use it by observing traffic rules and speed norms. The expressway project witnessed a cost escalation to Rs 61,000 crore from Rs 55,000 crore, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said. Pawar, at the start of his speech, referred to Shinde as CM before correcting his mistake, the faux pas bringing a smile on the faces of those assembled.

 

“This is the dream project of CM Fadnavis. It was started when he was CM and has been completed when he is CM again. It happens on rare occasions when those who start a project complete it. I remember those who opposed it at first later gave their land for the project and earned money (compensation),” Pawar added. Besides Fadnavis and the deputy CMs, Maharashtra Ministers Dada Bhuse, Shivendraraje Bhosale and Narhari Zirwal attended the inauguration ceremony at Igatpuri, located about 140 km from Mumbai, that was held around 1.45 pm. After the inauguration, the Chief Minister also inspected the longest Igatpuri tunnel of the expressway and viaduct in the stretch. To conduct an inspection of the expressway, Deputy CM Shinde drove a high-end car with Chief Minister Fadnavis sitting beside him on the front seat and Pawar occupying the back seat. The inspection lasted around 45 minutes, including the time taken for the journey between Igatpuri and Amane.

 

On the way back, Fadnavis and Shinde swapped seats with the CM getting behind the wheel, while Pawar remained in the same seat. Injecting humour into the proceedings, Pawar remarked that he was just observing if Shinde was driving well and was happy that everything went off smoothly. “In the return leg, CM Fadnavis observed speed limits so we reached safely and I am now addressing this gathering. We could not use the insurance (cover) we had taken,” Pawar said as the gathering burst out laughing.

 

The newly-constructed third creek bridge near Vashi Sion-Panvel Highway was also inaugurated via video conferencing on the occasion. With the inauguration of the final stretch between Igatpuri in Nashik district to Amane in Bhiwandi taluka of Thane district, this six-lane expressway, officially called ‘Hindu Hridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg’, has now been opened for traffic since Thursday evening, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRDC) said. “Previously, the journey from Nagpur to Mumbai via the old route would take 17 to 18 hours. The same distance (between Nagpur and Amane in Thane district) can now be covered in eight hours,” the MSRDC said in a release. After the opening of the final phase for traffic, pilgrims travelling from Thane-Mumbai region to Shirdi in Ahilyanagar district will benefit, while farmers from Shirdi, Ahilyanagar, Sinnar and Igatpuri (in Nashik district) can transport their agricultural produce to and from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region efficiently and in less time, it said. Samruddhi Mahamarg links Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (Navi Mumbai) and major tourist destinations like Shirdi, Ajanta-Ellora Caves (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) and Lonar lake (Buldhana). Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase covering 520 km between Nagpur and Shirdi on December 11, 2022. The second 80-km phase from Shirdi (Kokamthan) to Bharvir Interchange (Nashik district) was inaugurated on May 26, 2023. The third 25-km corridor between Bharvir Interchange to Igatpuri was thrown open for traffic on March 4, 2024. The expressway traverses through 392 villages in 26 talukas across 10 districts, namely Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldhana, Jalna, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ahilyanagar, Nashik and Thane. 

 

 

 MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who inaugurated the final stretch of the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway on Thursday, swapped the driver’s seat with his deputy Eknath Shinde during the inspection of the route - much like their political role reversal last year. In order to inspect the project, Shinde drove an Audi car from Igatpuri in Nashik district for a few kilometers accompanied by Fadnavis and deputy Ajit Pawar, while on their return journey, the trio travelled together with CM taking over the steering of high-end Lexus car. At the inauguration, Fadnavis, deputy CMs Shinde and Pawar were present. along with a few State Ministers at Igatpuri, located about 140 km from Mumbai. In the last phase of the Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway project, Igatpuri was connected with Amane in Bhiwandi taluka of Thane district to make the entire corridor fully functional, bringing down the travel time between the two cities to 8 hours from around 18 hours. At the inauguration, Fadnavis, deputy CMs Shinde and Pawar were present along with a few State Ministers at Igatpuri, located about 140 km from Mumbai. For the inspection, first Deputy CM Shinde drove the car with CM Fadnavis sitting on the front seat beside him and Pawar occupying the back seat with two bureaucrats. The inspection lasted around 45 minutes, including the time taken for the journey. The drive was up to the viaduct, which is the tallest on the expressway. On the way back, the car was changed and Fadnavis and Shinde swapped seats with the CM getting behind the wheel and Shinde sitting beside him, while Pawar remained in the same seat. The development somewhat described the political changes that the State witnessed in the past few years. Speaking at the inauguration event, deputy CM Pawar called Shinde as “Chief Minister” but immediately corrected his mistake, bringing a smile on the faces of everyone present on the dais, including CM Fadnavis, as well as the audience. Pawar said, “This (expressway) is the dream project of Devendra Fadnavis which he launched during his first tenure as the Chief Minister and it has been completed when he is the Chief Minister again.” “This happens on rare occasions that people who start a project get to complete it. I remember that those who first opposed the project later gave their lands for it and earned money,” he said. He further said, “Deputy CM Eknath Shinde drove our Audi car during our journey on the stretch today. CM Devendra Fadnavis sat beside him and I was keeping a watch whether he was driving well or not but everything went on smoothly.” “During the return journey, Fadnavis followed the speed limit, and we reached safely by following all the rules and here I am speaking to you. We did not have to use our insurance,” Pawar said in a lighter vein, creating laughter among the audience. Pawar said the car was being driven at 120 kmph when they were on the viaduct, but it was smoothly reduced to 100 kmph before it entered the tunnel, pointing out that there was no violation of speed limit. Fadnavis first became CM in 2014 and completed his full five-year term. But after the 2019 Assembly elections, the Shiv Sena parted ways with BJP and joined hands with NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government with Uddhav Thackeray becoming the Chief Minister. However, Thackeray’s tenure was cut short in June 2022 after Shinde rebelled against him. Shinde along with other rebel MLAs joined hands with BJP and formed the Mahayuti Government. Shinde took over as the CM, while Fadnavis became his deputy. After the November 2024 Assembly polls, Fadnavis and Shinde’s roles were reversed as the former took over as the Chief Minister with Shinde being appointed as the deputy CM. However, post-2019 Ajit Pawar remained constant in the Deputy Chief Minister’s chair. After the results of the 2019 elections, when Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress were holding talks, Fadnavis and Pawar sprang a surprise with the two leaders taking oath as the CM and deputy CM, respectively, in an early morning ceremony. But this Government collapsed within 80 hours. During the MVA rule that began in 2019, Pawar was appointed as the deputy CM with Uddhav Thackeray occupying the top post. In July 2023, when Shinde was the CM, Pawar joined the Mahayuti Government along with several MLAs, leading to a split in NCP. He was again appointed as the deputy CM in the Shinde-led Government. After last year’s polls, the trend continued with Pawar taking oath as the deputy CM along with Shinde as part of the Fadnavis-led Government.