Mumbai: As the Maharashtra government claims that people will be able to travel in six hours to their destination on the Mumbai–Goa highway, the ground reality is otherwise.
For the motorists driving on this crucial National Highway, it is a back-breaking experience with pothole ridden long stretches.
While the entire Mumbai–Goa Highway is 471 km, at least 100 km, which is almost one-fourth of the stretch, isn't drive-worthy.
“The portion between Panvel – Kolad – Indapur is in a horrible state. In no standard can it even be called a highway. It is worse than a rural road,” said Roy Francis, who recently travelled to Panjim.
Another motorists who travelled on the Mumbai–Goa National Highway had the same experience to narrate.
CM Shinde promises to take urgent measures on the highway
For a decade now, successive governments have failed in ensuring the national highway is made travel worthy; however, the governments do not leave any stone unturned in announcing new projects such as the proposed access controlled 450 km long Konkan Expressway having six lanes.
Motorists prefer driving on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway and then hit the Bengaluru highway. Either at Kolhapur or Sankeshwar, they cross over to Mumbai–Goa highway to skip the hardships.
Earlier this week, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in a public statement shared that the Public Works Department (PWD) is trying to take urgent measures regarding the work on Mumbai–Goa Highway. Similarly, PWD Minister Ravindra Chavan had said that the travel time will reduce to six hours as the pending project to widen the national highway to four lanes is expected to be complete before the upcoming Ganpati festival next month.
