Almost 12 years after its initial conceptualisation, the costs of the 440 km Mumbai-Goa highway have doubled, and the 112 km stretch is yet to be four-laned. The earlier deadline of December 23 has now been pushed to May and may even extend further.
According to officials and information obtained through an RTI query, both the central government and the state PWD have spent approximately Rs 73 billion on the four-laning work, which includes tunnels, flyovers, subways, service lanes, and concretised four-laning. The original project cost was around Rs 35 to 40 billion back then.
Officials from the state PWD and the Centre's National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) declined to speak on record.
In the ongoing development, NHAI is working on an 84 km stretch from Panvel to Indapur, while the remaining 355 km stretch is being widened by the state PWD. The Nhai stretch, initially projected to cost Rs 9 billion, has now exceeded the Rs 12 billion mark with 28 km of four-laning work still pending. Similarly, on the PWD stretch, expenses have reached around Rs 61 billion, and approximately 84 km of widening work is still pending and may extend beyond the monsoon.
An official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, mentioned that while the concrete four lanes would be ready in May, the service lanes, subways, and viaducts are expected to take more time, possibly till August. The overall cost escalation is attributed to changes in specifications, such as opting for concrete lanes instead of the initially planned asphalted lanes, and the addition of flyovers, viaducts, subways, and service lanes. Initial expenses on land compensation also contributed to the cost increase.
Jeetendra Ghadge of The Young Whistleblowers Foundation, who obtained information through an RTI application, emphasized that over 2,500 people from the Konkan belt have lost their lives on this highway since 2010, which has been under construction for more than a decade. Ghadge called for a white paper to be ordered on the work done so far, citing the need for closer examination of the project's management and oversight. He highlighted that PWD, responsible for a significant portion of the road, was initially hesitant to provide information, and Nhai reported its responsibility for only around 84 km of the total stretch, with the rest falling under the jurisdiction of PWD. Nhai also disclosed spending around Rs 18 billion on new roads and Rs 1.46 billion on repairs since 2013. Additionally, Nhai terminated an agreement with a contractor in 2011 due to various defaults.
