Pune: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) may be close to completing the tendering process for the proposed Nashik Phata-Khed elevated corridor project, but delay in putting together funds for land acquisition is posing a major hurdle in the progress.Bhosari MLA Mahesh Landge has urged chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to immediately release funds to acquire nearly 14.1 hectare of land required, in a fresh push to prevent further delays. He also suggested that the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) could temporarily release money from their annual budgets for land acquisition and the state govt reimburse the amount.“The Pune-Nashik highway is one of the busiest and industrially significant roads in the state. The project cannot be allowed to stall for want of funds. The project will ease traffic congestion and provide major relief to lakhs of commuters, entrepreneurs and industries,” Landge said.Officials feared that unless land acquisition was expedited, execution of the awaited 30km-long elevated corridor, aimed to ease chronic congestion on the Pune-Nashik highway, could be delayed. This despite the tendering process nearing completion.The proposed corridor is expected to ease traffic on one of the state’s busiest industrial routes connecting Pimpri Chinchwad, Chakan MIDC and Khed-Rajgurunagar. Rapid urbanisation along the Nashik Phata-Chakan-Khed stretch has resulted in severe traffic issues, with commuters often taking two to three hours to cover the nearly 30km distance.Landge said acquisition of around 1.23 lakh sqm of land within the PCMC limits would require Rs262.8 crore, while acquisition of 10.5 hectare in the PMRDA jurisdiction would need another Rs288 crore.The Centre approved the elevated corridor project, estimated to cost Rs7,827 crore, in 2024 after the Maharashtra govt assured it would acquire the required land and contribute Rs620 crore towards the acquisition cost. Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari had announced the project, which is in the tendering stage currently.Earlier, Shirur MP Amol Kolhe had also sought the state govt’s intervention to resolve the land acquisition issue. Sources said the secretary of the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) wrote to the Maharashtra chief secretary recently, reminding the state of its commitment and seeking immediate intervention to ensure the land acquisition process was completed without further delay.
