Nagpur: Even before the inauguration of Mumbai Nagpur Expressway, also known as Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, Congress leader Ashish Deshmukh was seen driving on the highway.
Deshmukh shared the video of his 200 km drive on his Facebook and said to have travelled from Nagpur to Washim. The Congress leader was seen travelling in his BMW on the highway.
In the video, Deshmukh appealed to the people to take advantage of this highway. He said,"Samrudhi Highway will bring prosperity to everyone and that it will be a major contributor to the development of Vidarbha.
Meanwhile, the first phase of Samrudhi Highway which was to be inaugurated on May 1 by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, has reportedly been delayed due to surge in COVID-19 cases as said by our earlier report.
The ambitious Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Samruddhi Mahamarg Phase 1 between Nagpur and Shirdi was expected to be open for traffic from May 1st, 2021 however it will delay due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is undertaking this expressway construction work.
According to an official from the MSRDC, who did not wish to be named said, "Workers are leadving the site due to the surge in Covid-19 cases across Maharashtra. The situation in Northeastern part of the state is grim therefore the project is affected. Besides, the restrictions imposed by the government to control the situation has further affected the raw material supply."
The Mumbai Nagpur Expressway will run through 392 villages, across 10 districts and reduce the traveling time to eight hours between the two cities. Mentioned is the Samruddhi Mahamarg route map and other details about the Mumbai Nagpur Expressway project.
The Samruddhi Mahamarg route map includes 50 flyovers, five tunnels, 300 vehicular underpasses and 400 pedestrian underpasses.
The expressway connecting 10 districts, 26 talukas and 392 villages once ready will cut down the travel time between Nagpur and Mumbai from existing 16 to eight hours. Currently, to reach Nagpur, one has to take NH3 (Mumbai-Dhule) and then NH6 (Dhule -Nagpur) comprising 800 kilometres.
