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Bombay-Pune expressway to be throw open to traffic on May 1

The Bombay-Pune expressway, a dream project of the previous Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra, is finally set to be opened to vehicular traffic from May 1, albeit in stages.

A 30-km stretch from Kon to Adoshi of the 94-km India's first six-lane expressway will be thrown open to traffic on May 1, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the formation of the state of Maharashtra.

The entire stretch of the expressway, however, will become open to vehicular traffic only towards the end of the year, Minister of State for Public Works Balasaheb Shivarkar informed during a conducted tour for reporters to oversee the progress of the expressway yesterday.

The government, however, is not planning any grand ceremony to mark the occasion. The mayors of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad will have the privilege of making the first trip from the Pune-end, thus marking open the Adoshi-Kon stretch.

Shivarkar informed that so far Rs 10 billion had been spent on the project, the entire cost of which has been projected at Rs 16.30 billion.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, or MSRDC, which is overseeing the completion of the project, is hopeful about opening a stretch of another 32-km kilometres towards the end of May.

The highway police will maintain a constant vigil over the expressway, while ambulances, fire-fighting vehicles, cranes, and such other amenities at interchanges, besides highway phones at regular intervals in case of emergency.

UNI

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