Rs 1.81 lakh cr gamechanger projects

Multi Modal Corridor will change the entire face of MMR & open up new areas of development: MSRDC VC&MD Radheshyam Mopalwar

In an exclusive interview with The Free Press Journal, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation VC & MD Radheshyam Mopalwar, who received a fourth term extension last week, explained the strategy to execute projects worth Rs 1,81,000 crore.

Q. What is the present status of the 701km Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg?

A. After the decline in cases in the second wave of Covid-19, work on Samruddhi Mahamarg has resumed with renewed pace. Workers are returning to the site, oxygen availability is taken care of. So, all structural works are now being taken up in right earnest. Usually, it is during the monsoon that structural works are completed.

There is not much of embankment work left, so upper layers of the expressway like granular surface, drylean-concrete and the final layer of pavement-quality concrete will be taken up during the monsoon also.

MSRDC has completed 65 per cent of the work, all the seven tunnels which are very important, are through. Of the 1,700 structures, 1,300 are already complete and the remaining 400 are at the upper level of completion. Tunnels are a big task but they are open at both ends. Tunnel finishing will take six months.

Q. What other projects are currently being undertaken by the MSRDC?

A. Apart from this, work on the Rs 6,600-crore Mumbai Pune missing link is in full swing and it should be complete by the end of 2022. Work on the Rs 775-crore Thane creek bridge is being executed by L&T and it will be completed in the next two years.

The government has assigned some new responsibilities to MSRDC, comprising the Pune Ring Road (Rs 26,000 crore), the Jalna-Nanded spur to Samruddhi Mahamarg (Rs 7,000 crore), the Konkan Expressway (Rs 72,000 crore), the Sagari Mahamarg (Rs 10,000 crore) and the Virar-Alibaug Multi Modal corridor (Rs 40,000 crore). In addition to this is the long-term Versova-Virar project (Rs 32,000 crore).

Q. What is the progress so far on these projects?

A. Land acquisition for the Pune Ring Road is currently in progress. In the case of the Multi Modal Corridor, of 106 villages, land measurement has been completed in 66 villages. Land acquisition has already been set in motion in these projects. In another fortnight, MSRDC will kickstart the land acquisition process for the JalnaNanded spur to Samruddhi Mahamarg.

The Sagari Mahamarg is actually a highway hugging the coast - a two-lane highway - and it will make for an experience of its own kind, like California’s coastal highway. This will boost tourism and its first phase, which comprises 10 bridges on various creeks, will be taken up after Diwali. The Konkan Expressway is presently in the DPR stage. The DPR and clearances will take around two years.

The Jalna-Nanded spur too is at the DPR stage. The Versova-Virar is a long-term project, which will take 10 years. The DPR and clearances itself will take two to three years.

These are all revenue earning and tollbased projects. Therefore, raising debt will not be a big challenge. They are going to change the entire face of Maharashtra and will be a game changer.

The Virar-Alibaug Multi-Modal Corridor is a big bypass for Thane, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath and Panvel reaching JNPT, Pen and Alibaug. It will be a revenue earning highway. Apart from that it will have a metro and expressway going side by side. This will open up new areas of development and decongest Thane, Kalyan, Dombivli, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar and Ambernath. The Multi Modal Corridor will change the entire face of Mumbai Metropolitan Region that can be seen in the next quarter century. Q: When will MSRDC be listed?

A: The government will take an appropriate decision only af ter full operationalisation of the Samruddhi MahaMarg and stabilization of traffic there.