The central government has sanctioned around Rs 1,130 crore to construct major roads on 62km stretch between Kolhapur and Sangli districts.
Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari announced through Twitter that the finance committee of the ministry has approved the funds for the project.
Among the two major road stretches, one is 41km stretch between Peth Naka and Sangli city. The four laning of the road will be carried out at a cost of Rs 881 crore. The demand for four laning of the road has been pending for the past six years. The road, connecting Pune-Bengaluru National Highway-48 to Sangli city, has now been transferred to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and designated as NH 166 H. The four laning will help decongest the road and avoid accidents. It is the only major road connecting Sangli city to NH-48 and has a huge economic significance.
On the other hand, Rs 249 crore have been sanctioned for two road stretches connecting Kolhapur and Sindhudurg, passing through Karul Ghat. The ghat witnesses heavy rainfall in the monsoon and the road gets damaged frequently, disrupting the traffic for days.
The new two-lane concrete road will handle the rush of thousands of goods transport vehicles passing through the ghat section. The ghat comes under NH 166 G, which will also facilitate the traffic movement connecting Sindhudurg to NH 166, passing through Kolhapur and thereby helping passengers moving from Sangli and Satara to reach south Konkan and thereafter Goa.