State On Road Mechanisation Spree

The ongoing mechanisation drive initiated at the PWD and the MSRDC has effectively reduced by half the time taken for construction of roads and flyovers.

Talking to Business Standard, minister for public works Vikramsingh Patankar said: "The government has already sanctioned Rs 700 crore for the Mumbai-Aurangabad-Nagpur national highway for which tenders have already been floated. While some sections of the proposed highway is in the tender stage and the rest is in the planning stage." Patankar added that of the 22 subways proposed for Mumbai 12 would be completed this year. The subway construction is distributed this way: MSRDC five, PWD six and the BMC the remaining seven.

 

Regarding the time that would be saved once the construction of the Mumbai-Aurangabad-Nagpur highway is completed, Patankar said: "We anticipate that the construction of the 700-odd ki ometre between Gauti and Butibori to be over by December 2002. As a result, the distance between Nagpur and Mamba will be reduced by 50 km and that between Amravati and Mumbai will be cut by 36 km while there will be a 30-km cut between Aurangabad and Nashik Again the distance between Aurangabad and Mumbai will be down by 20 km and the Shirdi-Mumbai and Chinnar-Mumbai sectors would be cut by 20 km."

His colleague in the state cabinet and minister for public works,Vijaysingh Mohite-Patil, emphasised that the state-of-the-art 'Hot-Mix' technology was the new norm for the fortification of main state highways at district-level roads.

"The need for sturdy and load resistant road networks in the state will be fulfilled as a result of this," Patil said.

State administration officials, however, pointed out that the 'Hot-Mix' technology was already in use in road constructions in the state from the last decade.

"The mecanisation drive has resulted in reducing time, and this is true in the case of 56 flyovers for the city.It has increased the efficiency of road works saving both time and money," a PWD official told Business Standard.