Vikas Raut
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar–Ahilyanagar–Pune road, which connects key districts, has been awaiting repairs for over a year. As a result, nearly 50 per cent of the stretch is filled with potholes, forcing around 20,000 vehicles daily to struggle through the damaged road. During the Diwali season, the severe traffic congestion on this route went viral on social media.
After ‘Lokmat’ newspaper highlighted the issue on Tuesday, reporting that a five-hour journey was now taking nine hours due to potholes, the Public Works Department (PWD, Nashik) submitted a ₹35 crore proposal to the state government for road repairs. The repair work will cover about 50–60 km from Wadala to Ahilyanagar, and is expected to begin next month, said the senior sources to the newspaper.
Transfer and highway upgrade
In October 2024, the government decided to transfer the road to the Maharashtra State Infrastructure Development Corporation (MSIDC) and to upgrade it to a national highway, designated as NH-753F.
The Pune–Shirur–Ahilyanagar–Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar route will be improved under this project. The Pune–Shirur stretch (53 km) will be expanded into a six-lane road at a cost of ₹7,515 crore, while the Shirur–Ahilyanagar–Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar section (via the outer bypass) will also be upgraded. The total project cost is about ₹9,000 crore.
Of this, 30 pc (₹2,254 crore) will come from institutional loans, while 70 pc (₹5,260 crore) will be borrowed by the MSIDC from banks. The Ahilyanagar–Devgad section will be built at a cost of ₹410 crore. The next phase beyond Devgad will cost ₹600 crore. After completion, toll collection will begin.
Current toll & road management issues
At present, toll collection is already ongoing on the Shirur–Ahmednagar–Devgad–Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar stretch. The two toll concession will end in December 2029 and in January 2037, after which the road will remain under the PWD office.
The Ahmednagar–Devgad stretch, where toll collection will soon end, will then be transferred to MSIDC.
The Pune–Shirur work worth ₹7,515 crore will be executed on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BoT) model with 30 years of toll collection. Under the 2008 toll policy, tolls will be collected once the work is completed. However, since MSIDC has not commented on temporary repairs, the PWD has independently prepared this interim repair proposal.
Present Situation
The Wadala–Ghodegaon–Pandharipul road–a mountain pass extended till Ahilyanagar is full of potholes.
Around 20,000 vehicles travel on this route daily.
The road was last widened 24 years ago.
Toll collections will continue until December 2029 and January 2037.