Virar-Alibaug Multipurpose Corridor: MSRDC Determined To Complete Land Acquisition By May
Virar, 1st March 2023: The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has decided to start the work of the Virar-AlibaUg Multipurpose Highway project in 2024, which has been stalled for the past 10-12 years. The land acquisition work has been sped up and MSRDC is planning to complete the land acquisition by May. The process of taking the funds required for land acquisition from HUDCO in the form of a loan has also been sped up. The tender process for the work of this route is likely to be carried out after May.
This project is considered very important in terms of strengthening the transport system in the Mumbai metropolitan region. But this project has been stalled for the past 10 to 12 years. Originally this project belonged to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). But as MMRDA was not able to get this project on track, finally the state government transferred this project to MSRDC two-three years ago. After this project came to MSRDC, the process of land acquisition was started by preparing a detailed plan. More than 1,300 hectares of land will have to be acquired for this project, which is 128 km long and has 16 lanes. 22 thousand crores of funds are required for land acquisition alone. MSRDC faced a big challenge to raise this fund. However, a senior officer in MSRDC informed that the fund has been successfully raised.
HUDCO is ready to fund the land acquisition of Pune Ring Road and Nanded – Jalna Expressway along with the multipurpose corridor. The funding process is in the final stage; funds will be available soon, and land acquisition will speed up. The official also said that the process of land acquisition will be completed by May. After completion of the land acquisition, the tender process for construction will be carried out. A minimum period of six to seven months is required to complete this tender process. Therefore, the actual work of this project will start in 2024, MSRDC has also clarified.
The work of this route will be done in phases. In the first phase, the 20 km long route, Morbe – Karanjade, will be constructed. After that, the work in Karanjade – JNPT phase will be taken up. If this route becomes operational, the distance between Virar – Alibaug will be reduced. Economic development will also see a boost. Therefore, this project is considered very important in terms of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
