Mumbai-Nagpur Expressways first phase to be open for public from May 1

Maharashtra Chief Minister UddhavThackeray on Saturday said the first phase of the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway from Nagpur to Shirdi will bethrown open to public on May 1, 2021.

The chief minister made the announcement afterreviewing the work at Shivni-Rasulapur in Nandgaon-Khandeshwartaluka of Amravati district.

“The Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray SamruddhiExpressway will be the best in the country and in the next sixmonths, the road up to Shirdi will be open to traffic,”Thackeray said.

The stretch of the Expressway at Amravati is 74-kmlong and Thackeray travelled 6 km on the stretch to check thequality and speed.

Work on the project continued even during thecoronavirus-induced lockdown, which is why most of it iscomplete, the chief minister said.

“Maharashtra will be proud of the expressway. Thefirst phase from Nagpur to Shirdi will be thrown open topublic on May 1, 2021 and the entire project up to Mumbai willbe completed in a years time,” he said.

Thackeray also reviewed the stretch of the Expresswayin Vaijapur tehsil of Aurangabad district.

“The state government is planning to make the stretchbetween Nagpur to Shirdi operational by May 1, and 112 kmstretch of this route lies in Aurangabad. The stretch is beingbuilt by two companies and nearly half of the work has beencompleted,” a senior district official said.

The eight-lane, 701-km long expressway, being built atthe cost of Rs 55,000 crore, will pass through 10 districts,and is expected to cut travel time between Mumbai and Nagpurto eight hours from the current 18 hours.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by state ministersEknath Shinde, Yashomati Thakur, Sanjay Rathod and seniorofficials during the visit.

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