Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday gave a green signal to the state’s ambitious and India’s longest tunnel of 11 km on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway (MPE). The tunnel will be part of the `5,000 crore project that aims to widen the Expressway.
“The chief minister reviewed the project on Saturday at the Mantralaya and assured that it would be sanctioned in the infrastructure committee,” said Jaidatta Kshirsagar, minister of public works department (public undertaking), who is also the chairman of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).
Taking into consideration the traffic situation between Khopoli and Lonavala, where the old Mumbai-Pune National Highway-4 and the new Mumbai-Pune Expressway meet, the MSRDC has planned to construct an 11-km-long tunnel to keep the two roads separate between Kalamboli and Khopoli up to Lonavala. The tunnel will pass through the Bhushi Dam, thus minimising the travel time, said sources from MSRDC.
Mr Kshirsagar said, “This tunnel might become the longest in the country. In the MPE plan that aims to widen the Expressway from Kalamboli to the Sinhgad Institute, from the existing six-lane to eight-lane. Also, some part of the highway will be elevated. A parallel baby tunnel will be constructed on both the sides of the main tunnel that will serve as an exit during emergency situations such as accidents.”
As per the project plan, an estimate of the total cost of the project is placed at `5,170 crore, the tunnel costing around `800 crore. The upfront payment of `1,250 crore will be given to a successful bidder. “As we have already got a clearance from the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF), the plan is to complete this project by the end of 2019. Apart from the widening of the Expressway, the project also includes building six-lane roads (from the current four-lane) from Shilphata to Kalamboli, and Dehu Road to Nigadi,” Mr Kshirsagar said.
When asked about the toll charges of these roads, Mr Kshirsagar said that there would be no hike in the toll. “The period of the toll collection will be increased, and a new tender will be called for the same,” the minister said.
To study the feasibility of this project, an expert committee was constituted with retired public works department (PWD) secretary Dhanajay Dhawad as one of the members. They have submitted the reports to MSRDC, said sources from within the MSRDC.
“The project will be discussed and finalised in the infrastructure committee. I hope the committee meeting will be called very soon,” said Mr Kshirsagar