The Marine Goa Superhighway is finally materialising after decades of delay in resolving issues and starting with preparations. The project with a budget of Rs 26,000 crore is finally taking shape. The goal of this initiative is to reduce traffic congestion on the bustling Mumbai-Goa route and improve transportation options along picturesque coastline.

What is the Marine Goa Superhighway project?

The Marine Goa Superhighway is a route that spans almost 500 kilometres and is planned to run alongside the current Goa highway. The goal is to reduce traffic jams on the crowded Mumbai-Goa highway while offering beautiful vistas of the coastline and Sahyadri mountains.

Highway Features

The Marine Goa Superhighway will have four lanes, just like California’s renowned Pacific Highway. This highway-style layout will link all the coastal towns in Konkan, providing a convenient mode of transportation for both locals and visitors.

Main Characteristics of the Highway

The Marine Goa Superhighway consists of seven large bridges, covering a combined distance of 27 kilometres, that will make transportation and trade easier.

Key Bridge Projects

Several projects are currently in progress on the bridges that connect to the Mumbai-Goa superhighway route. Details show that the project is concentrated on improving road transportation in order to offer a safer and more enjoyable experience. The combined length of all seven bridges measures 27 kilometers. These bridges link different areas, facilitating the movement of people and goods.

Dharamtar Creek Bridge (Karja): A large 10.2-kilometre steel bridge that displays advanced engineering.

Kundlika Creek Bridge: Located between Revdanda and Salav, it spans 3.8 kilometres and links important locations.

Agardanda Creek Bridge (Dighi Agardanda): Yet another cable-stayed bridge, this structure extends over 4.3 kilometres across Agardanda Creek.

Bankot Creek Bridge (Bagmandla Veshwi): The 1.7-kilometer cable-stayed bridge allows for easy transportation over Bankot Creek.

Kelshi Bay Bridge (Kelshi): An access point over Kelshi Bay constructed with a 670-meter long “Box girder” design.

Jaigad Creek Bridge: Spanning a distance of 4.4 kilometres, this cable-stayed bridge improves the connection over Jaigad Creek.

Kunkeshwar Bridge: Connects important locations in Kunkeshwar with a length of 1.6 kilometres and a cable-stayed design.

Mumbai: Ahead of Maharashtra assembly elections, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) leader Sanjay Raut made serious allegations against the Election Commission of India and the Supreme Court of India, saying both the institutions are B and C teams of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

Speaking with the media on Saturday, the Sena (UBT) MP said that the Election Commission has taken some decisions which favours the BJP and Shiv Sena-led by Eknath Shinde. “The Election Commission’s decisions are in a way to put opposition in problem and not in the interest of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Despite of this, we are standing strong. The Election Commission and Supreme Court are not neutral,” Raut alleged.

On October 15, the Election Commission of India declared the polling schedule for the Maharashtra assembly elections and since then, code of conduct has come into effect. However, MVA has been alleging that the Mahayuti government has violated the model code of conduct and published government decisions on the website with previous dates.

Speaking on MVA’s seat-sharing for Maharashtra elections, Raut said that MVA has finalised formula for 200 seats, however, he alleged that Maharashtra Congress leaders are not capable of taking quick decisions which is delaying the candidate announcement. He plans to discuss with Rahul Gandhi today (October 18), Raut said.

In another development, a list of Congress candidates for Maharashtra assembly elections was leaked on Friday. Debunking the list as a ‘fake’ one, the Maharashtra Congress urged the voters to not believe in the rumours and wait for the official announcement.

The voting for 288 assemblies in Maharashtra will take place on November 20 and results will be declared on November 23.

The seat-sharing talks between the allies of the Maha Vikas Aghadi on Thursday remained logjammed on the allocation of 28 seats. Though MVA sources claim its alliance partners have reached a consensus on 260 seats. Another round of talks will take place to resolve the impasse.

The seats where the MVA partners could not come to a conclusion include Ramtek, Chandrapur, Tumsar, Daryapur, Arjuni-Morgaon (all from Vidarbha), Sindkheda (north Maharashtra), and Parli, Gevrai, and Udgir (all from Marathwada).

The discussion over 4 or 5 seats in Mumbai could not take place due to the absence of leaders from the city, sources said. In total, the MVA discussion went on for over nine hours at a five-star hotel in the BandraKurla Complex.

Those participating included MPCC chief Nana Patole, his colleagues from the party Balasaheb Thorat, Vijav Wadettiwar, and Satej Patl, NCP SP state chief Jayant Patil and his colleagues Anil Deshmukh, Jitendra Awhad, and Rajesh Tope and Shiv Sena MPs Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai.

Deliberations could not be concluded due to differences between Congress and Shiv Sena leaders, sources said. Now, for seats where consensus has not been reached, discussions will be held with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and NCP leader Sharad Pawar to find a solution.

There was no discussion about any seats in Mumbai during this meeting because the committee responsible for discussing Mumbai was not present. Speaking to the media, former minister and NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh mentioned that “discussions are still pending on 10 percent of the seats.

There will be another meeting today to finalise the seat distribution.” There was also discontent on the part of Abu Azmi, but reportedly, this was quieted by allocating him the Govandi and Bhiwandi seats. The Congress wants to contest 110-120 seats while the Shiv Sena (UBT) is aiming for 90-100, and NCP (SP) is looking at 80 seats. It was expected that the MVAS first candidate list would be announced on October 18.

However, Congress state president Nana Patole stated that complete seat distribution would be finalised by October 18-19. This means that the Maha Vikas Aghadi will definitely miss the October 18 deadline for releasing the first list. The main disagreements are on Mumbai and Vidarbha, which together account for 98 of the total 288 seats.

Both the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have strong interests in these regions and are reluctant to compromise. In Mumbuai, the fight over key seats is not just about local politics but also reflects the changing dynamics after the Congress’s unexpected loss to the BJP in Haryana’s recent elections.

The deadlock is over eight crucial seats in Mumbai, including Byculla, Versova, Dharavi, Jogeshwari rast, and others. Joint press conference: “We have addressed problems such as faults and missing names from the voter list. We will take up these issues before the Election Commission at llam am on Friday. Later, we will address a joint press around 12pm.”