NHAI decides to open 42km stretch of Mumbai-Goa highway before Ganeshotsav

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has made the decision to open a 42 km section of the Mumbai-Goa highway-a one-side lane from Panvel to Kasu in Raigad district-ahead of the festival, which is expected to provide relief to hundreds of migrants who will travel to their hometowns in the Konkan region to celebrate Ganeshotsav.

Accordig to a report of Indian Express,  NHAI is constructing 84km of the highway from Panvel to Indapur in Raigad district and the work has been divided into two packages. Package 1 comprises the 42km stretch from Panvel to Kasu while package 2 involves works on the remaining 42km stretch from Kasu to Indapur.

NHAI official said initially, the Supreme Tollways Pvt Ltd had been given the work order of constructing the entire 84km (from Panvel to Indapur) of the Mumbai-Goa highway in 2011 and was scheduled to complete the work by 2014. However, various challenges such as land acquisition and utility shifting hampered work. All issues were resolved in 2014 but then the company faced financial issues

The contractor received a financial aid from NHAI of Rs 550 crore, spent Rs 500 crore, and finished building the 42 km (2+2 lane) section from Panvel to Kasu in Package 1, but only the 20 km of road envisaged in Package 2. The contractor's services were terminated by the NHAI in 2021 since the highway project was not completed on schedule.