New coastal highway to soon connect Mumbai and Goa

The project is expected to start from Uran near Navi Mumbai and go on towards Goa via the west coast of Maharashtra.

The Konkan belt of Maharashtra will soon be connected by a coastal highway, which is part of the Maharashtra government's grand plan for the state's west coast. The highway will connect areas along Maharashtra and Goa. An international company is expected to complete a Detailed Project Report for this by May 31, following which the tendering process will begin.

On Monday, Union Minister of Shipping and Roads Nitin Gadkari was in Mumbai where he took a review meeting of the various projects related to highways.

PWD minister Chandrakant Patil said during the press conference that the government had started preparing the detailed project report. "Once the highway is ready, it will promote tourism in the Konkan belt, and will also greatly reduce travel time along that stretch," said Patil.

The bridge at Mahad over the Savitri river collapsed in August last year. Pic /Pradeep Dhivar

While the final alignment of the coastal highway is yet to be finalised, sources from the PWD said that the project is expected to start from Uran near Navi Mumbai and go on towards Goa via the west coast of Maharashtra passing Uran-Alibaug-Kihim-Murud-Harihareswar-Jaigad-Ganpatipule-Ratnagiri-Kunkeshwar-Malvan-Panjim.

The project is expected to be around 550-600 km long. The minister also said that the work on widening the Mumbai-Goa highway was in progress and would be completed by 2019. Phase 1 between Panvel and Indapur will be completed by this year end.