The state government will speed up the acquisition of 2,233 hectares of land for the proposed 699km Pune-Bengaluru expressway from Kanjale as a part of the Centre’s Bharatmala Phase 2 project.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials affirmed the state government’s stand after attending a meeting on Monday (November 7) regarding the land acquisition for the new road to be constructed covering three districts in Maharashtra — Pune, Satara, and Sangli — and 12 in Karnataka. It is expected to reduce the distance between the two IT cities by 60km.
The total land required for the expressway project from Maharashtra and Karnataka is 7,689 hectares. Of it, 2,233 hectares would be acquired in Maharashtra and the remaining 5,456 hectares in Karnataka. The total length of the expressway would be 699km. Of it, a total of 206km would pass through the state.
Kanjale, the originating point of the expressway in Maharashtra, is a part of the outer Pune ring road. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is implementing the project.
“The MSRDC has agreed to expedite the land acquisition and complete it this financial year so that the new road project can be taken up in the next financial year. The district collectors will appoint nodal officers for land acquisition to speed up the process,” said an NHAI officer after the meeting.
“The new road will help improve the road connectivity between Pune and Bengaluru because the existing Pune-Bengaluru highway (NH-4) is almost saturated. The proposed new route, to be built with expressway standards and improved geometry, will provide a safer and speedy travel experience to the users. It will reduce the travel distance also,” said the officer closely associated with the greenfield project proposed by the NHAI.
“The current travel time between the two cities is about 12 hours. After the completion of the new route, it would come down to about seven hours,” said the NHAI officer.
The six-lane access-controlled expressway from Kanjale to Muthagadahalli on the Satellite Ring Road in Bengaluru would be expandable up to eight lanes and the design speed is 120kmph. A detailed project report would be prepared, and the construction of the highway would start after the acquisition of land in both the states.
Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari had earlier said in an event in Pune the Centre was planning to build an express highway between Pune and Bengaluru with connectivity to Mumbai. He said the Mumbai-Pune Expressway would take a turn near the ring road of Pune and run as a highway towards the Karnataka capital. The Union ministry of road transport and highways is planning to take the state highways having high traffic density for 25 years, convert them into four- or six-lane highways and collect tolls from them. The investment, along with interest and land acquisition cost, is expected to be fully recovered from these highways in 12-13 years.
