Upcoming 700km Mumbai-Nagpur expressway to reduce travel time by half
The upcoming Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway (NMSCE) is an eight-lane 700km road project which will cut the present travel time of 16 hours between these cities by half. The express corridor will connect the Nagpur, Buldhana, Amravati, Wardha, Washim, Thane, Aurangabad, Akola, Bhiwandi and Nashik districts with Mumbai. The NMSCE will have underpasses for foot traffic, along with flyovers and interchanges at major road intersections. The route will avoid major towns and cities and provide for vehicular underpasses and pedestrian underpasses at every village and town which it crosses. This new Mumbai-Nagpur expressway is expected to be ready by 2021.
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Being built at a cost of Rs46,000 crores, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) project will also include the development of industrial clusters, townships, IT hubs and educational centres along the way. The project will provide for amenities like solar lighting to ensure energy efficiency. There are expected to be telephones, food plazas, restaurants, shops every 5 km and other amenities such as trauma centres, bus bays and truck terminals. Users will also get free Wi-Fi access. CCTV cameras will be placed along the entire route and there will be close traffic surveillance.
The MSRDC has already acquired 60 per cent of the 9,330 hectares of land it requires for the project. The project will take three years to complete once the tendering process, being floated by the government on April 10, is complete. This road, while improving connectivity within Maharashtra, may also provide a leg up to the economy in terms of job creation and investment in the districts it will pass through.
