Land acquisition starts for Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway

Mumbai: The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has initiated the process of acquiring 111 hectare land for the 380-km-long Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway in Maharashtra under section 3G of the National Highway Act, 1956. The six-lane highway is part of implementing agency, National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) golden quadrilateral project and will make for a shorter, smoother commute for motorists travelling to Ahmedabad by interconnecting the existing Vadodara-Ahmedabad Expressway.

MoRTH has issued a notification to acquire 111 hectare land in Thane district of Maharashtra. The notification reads, “If no statement is received from concerned beneficiaries of land which is under acquisition in front of a competent authority within the stipulated date, it will be assumed that the concerned beneficiaries have nothing to say and the amount of compensation will be decided as per rules.

The villages in Maharashtra where land is set to be acquired include Dapivali, Ambeshiv, Dhoke, Yeranjad and Sonivali. The project, which has been in the pipeline for four years, was stuck due to protest against land acquisition in both Maharashtra and Gujarat followed by clearances for construction from the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) in Gujarat. The expressway will cost around Rs 27,000 crore, out of which Rs 10,000 crore will be spent on land acquisition.

The proposed expressway passes through various locations in Thane district in Maharashtra where part of the land is with farmers while part of it is covered by forests. The expressway further passes through the union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli as well as Valsad, Navsari, Surat and Bharuch in Gujarat. However, between Mumbai and Surat, it will have eight lanes that will end at Dahisar check naka. The project will be implemented on a “design, build, finance, operate or DBOT” basis.

At long last:

• The six-lane highway is part of implementing agency, National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) golden quadrilateral project.
• It will make for a shorter, smoother commute for motorists travelling to Ahmedabad by interconnecting the existing Vadodara-Ahmedabad Expressway.
• The project, which has been in the pipeline for four years, was stuck due to protest against land acquisition in both Maharashtra and Gujarat.