Shaktipith Expressway altered: Sections in 4 districts to be excluded !

Mumbai – Owing to opposition at the local level, the Maharashtra Government has decided to make changes to the Shaktipith Expressway. Sections where there was resistance to land acquisition will be excluded from the plan, while Satara district has been included in the revised alignment. As a result, the expressway will now pass through 13 districts instead of 12. This will increase both the length of the road and the overall cost. The revised plan has been submitted to the government for approval by the Public Works Department.

The Shaktipith Expressway, which connects the three-and-a-half Shaktipiths in the State, is an ambitious project of the MahaYuti government. Due to opposition to land acquisition for the expressway at several places, the government had assured during the Assembly elections that changes would be made to the project’s alignment. Accordingly, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation has modified the route alignment in the districts of Nanded, Kolhapur, Sindhudurg and Dharashiv, where opposition to the expressway was strong. Earlier, the estimated cost of this expressway was ₹86,000 crore; it is now expected to rise to ₹1 lakh crore.

Changes made as follows !

As per the earlier plan, the expressway was to be 802 kilometres long; under the new plan, its length will increase to 856 kilometres. Previously, the expressway was to pass through 350 villages; under the revised plan, it will pass through 395 villages. A total of 8,500 hectares of land will need to be acquired for this expressway. The expressway will pass through 13 districts: Wardha, Yavatmal, Hingoli, Nanded, Parbhani, Latur, Beed, Dharashiv, Solapur, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Sindhudurg. According to the new plan, the expressway will also pass through the Man and Khatav talukas of Satara district.