Govt takes Super E-way route' for Virar-Alibaug lane

Mumbai: To improve infrastructure and connectivity across the state, the government has decided to acquire land for the 126-km long Virar-Alibaug Multi Modal Transport (MMT) corridor like the model it adopted for the execution of the much-touted Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi expressway. Sanjay Khandare, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said that they would directly purchase land from the owner. The MMT corridor would include metro, dedicated bus lanes, lanes for other motor transport and pedestrian walkways.

The corridor will connect the NH8 (Ahmedabad), NH3 (Agra-Delhi), NH4 (Pune-Bangalore), NH4 B (JNPT), Bhiwandi bypass, and, Mumbai-Pune expressway among other highways. “The land acquisition process will start shortly and the civil work for the same will start in next 8-9 months” said Mr Khandare.

He added, “We called all the district collectors in a meeting recently and decided that the land acquisition will be done like the ‘Samruddhi’ model. All the land details have been given to the collectors of Thane, Palghar and Alibaug. We need 1,000 hectares of land for this project.”

The work for the corridor between Navghar in Virar and Alibaug in Raigad district will be completed in phases.  The first phase is a 98-km stretch between Navghar and Jite near Pavel, while the second phase is a 28-km stretch from Jite to Alibaug.

The corridor will house two metro lines, the construction of which will commence once the road works near completion. The estimated cost for constructing the highway (Phase I) is '10,000 crore. The proposed corridor is likely to provide connectivity to areas like Panvel, Virar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan Uran, Pen, Alibaug etc.

According to the MMRDA, this corridor will carry all the traffic from JNPT towards Navi Mumbai and Thane outside the city. It will help reduce traffic congestion.

The travel time between Virar and Alibaug will also be reduced by 50 per cent. The plan for the corridor was drawn up in 2010 by the authority.