Mumbai, May 30 (IANS) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, on Friday, has asked the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to expedite road development projects in the state, saying that there would be no compromise on quality of development works.

He has instructed the MSRDC that the stalled works on the Mumbai-Nashik highway should be completed before the monsoon and warned that strict action will be taken against officials and contractors who delay the work.

At the high-level meeting, Deputy CM Shinde reviewed various ambitious projects underway across the state, including the “missing link” on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the Pune Ring Road, the Revas-Reddi Sea Highway in Konkan and the Shaktipeeth Highway.

As the work of concreting 31 km on the Mumbai-Nashik highway has not been completed yet, orders have been given to speed it up.

The work of the railway overbridge at Pimpri-Charoti is stalled, therefore Deputy CM Shinde has directed to complete the work within a month by taking mega blocks as soon as the girder is available.

If the concreting is not completed before the monsoon, emphasis has been placed on asphalting and keeping traffic flowing smoothly.

“The work on the Vertical Bridge, which is the most difficult phase of the ‘missing link’ project on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, is currently underway on a war footing. This work will be completed by the end of December and opened for passengers. Also, considering the traffic congestion, the MSRDC has a proposal to convert the existing six lanes into 10 lanes, for which an estimated cost of Rs 14,900 crore is expected,” said Deputy CM Shinde.

According to Deputy CM Shinde, the work is currently underway on nine out of 12 packages of Pune Ring Road.

“In this, 10,000 affected indigenous trees are being replanted scientifically, and so far 4,000 trees have been successfully replanted. The remaining 5,000 trees will be planted in farmers’ fields or along the Ring Road. Further, the construction of nine creek bridges on the Revas-Reddi marine highway is underway and most of the work is in progress. Out of 86 shelter centres in Konkan, work is underway on 37 and it has been decided to set up these centres near schools so that they can also be used for schools after the monsoon.”

In view of the opposition for the proposed Shaktipeeth Highway connecting Nagpur to Goa in Kolhapur, Latur and Dharashiv, Deputy CM Shinde directed that their concerns should be addressed by directly interacting with the villagers.

This highway will be beneficial for the farmers and citizens of 12 districts and will achieve great economic progress like the Samruddhi Highway, he remarked.

He said that MSRDC’s new ‘New Mahabaleshwar’ project has included 294 villages and plans are underway to invite companies like Dabur and Patanjali for wellness centres and medicinal plant research.

Instructions were also given to speed up the Utteshwar Temple and Ropeway project in Tapola.

Deputy CM Shinde has asked MSRDC to participate in slum redevelopment projects like City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

He has directed that the ongoing projects should be cleared of encroachments and barricades should be installed, green areas should be developed under bridges and the projects should be completed on time and without compromising on quality.

–IANS

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