Maharashtra: Pace of Samruddhi expressway work slows as workers return home

NASHIK/AURANGABAD: The ‘Mission Begin Again’ of Maharashtra government to kick-start business activities has had a reverse impact on its ambitious Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway project.
Nearly 22% of the total workers of the project, also called as the Samruddhi Highway, have left for their hometowns, cutting down the pace of work. The expressway passes through 10 districts of the state.The construction work of the project was carried out even during lockdown with special permission from the Central government.
Radheshyam Mopalwar, vice-chairman and managing director of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRDC), on Friday said 4,000 of the 18,000 workers engaged in the project had left for their respective home towns in neigbouring states.
“Despite this, the MSRDC is set to complete at least 500 km stretch of the 701-km expressway by May 2021 and the rest of the project will be functional by December 2021,” he said.
Speaking to a select group of newsmen through video conference, Mopalwar said the labourers have been trained on maintaining social distance to ensure their safety. The expressway site is about from 2 to 10 km away from the containment zones across the state, he said.
He pointed out that expressway work was divided into 16 packages of which it’s in progress well at 12 places while in rest of the packages only 4 per cent of the work could be carried out due to technical glitches including forest department clearance.
Officials from Nashik said that about 50% of their workers had gone home. In Nashik district, the package at Sinnar is progressing well but it has been affected in the Igatpuri and Shahapur sections. The work on the tunneling from both the ends is being carried out.
Most workers from Assam, Bihar, Odisha have gone back. Those who returned home were in touch with some workers in Mumbai. “They called up their friends and we arranged for transportation facilities to bring them here from Mumbai. We have about 80% of the workers compared to those hired before Covid-19 outbreak,” a senior officer added.
The officer added that the work has not stopped completely but the pace has reduced by about 25%.
A large portion of the Samruddhi Expressway runs through Aurangabad district. About 112.30 km stretch of the expressway passes through 62 villages in Aurangabad.
Mopalwar also said that natural gas pipelines, solar power projects and optical fibre web will also be installed along the Samruddhi Mahamarg. “Solar energy upto around 250-300 megawatts will be created along the expressway. MSRDC hoped that the natural gas pipelines will promote the gas-based industries along the expressway,” he said.