Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari will lay the foundation work of basket bridge along the Panchaganga river and the bridge connecting entrance of Kolhapur city via a flyover on January 28.
As per the schedule, the minister will arrive on January 27 in the evening and visit Mahalaxmi temple. The next day he will visit Hubbali in Karnataka and then return to Kolhapur to visit Narsinhawadi.
In the evening, he will lay the foundation stone of the basket bridge along the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway-48 along the Panchaganga river. The bridge will be elevated further as fly-over bridge which will connect the NH-48 to the entrance of the city at Shahu Market Yard.
Dhananjay Mahadik, who as the Lok Sabha member during the 2014-19 period had proposed the idea, said, “The bridge and the FOB will reduce traffic congestion at the entrance of the city. It will also help ensure the traffic flow is uninterrupted during the flood. The basket bridge will add to the aesthetics of the city. When I became an MP in the Rajya Sabha, I followed up the idea again to which the minister has approved funds.”
Both the bridges are part of the six-laning of Kagal-Satara stretch of Pune-Bengaluru National Highway 48. After laying the foundation of basket bridge and FOB, Gadkari will visit the agriculture festival organised by Mahadik and then leave for Delhi.