Sapkal claims corruption in Samruddhi Expressway project, demands white paper

Mumbai, Jun 5 (PTI) Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal on Thursday called the Samruddhi Expressway a “breeding ground” for corruption and demanded a white paper on the project.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the final 76-km-long stretch of the carriageway, making the entire 701-km Mumbai-Nagpur corridor fully functional, which will cut travel time between the two cities to eight hours from around 18 hours.

“The Fadnavis government is patting itself on the back after inaugurating the final phase of the Samruddhi Expressway, but this project has become a breeding ground for corruption. The project cost, originally estimated at Rs 55,000 crore, has escalated to Rs 70,000 crore,” he claimed.

The “inflated cost of Rs 15,000 crore” points to massive corruption, the Congress leader said.

“If the government has any ethics left, it should release a white paper on the Samruddhi Expressway project," Sapkal said.

He claimed that corruption of nearly Rs 3,000 was exposed in two tenders associated with the Gaimukh-Ghodbunder-Bhayandar project. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority recently scrapped the tenders “to safeguard larger public interest” after the matter reached the Supreme Court.

“Just like the Gaimukh-Ghodbunder-Bhayandar project, there has been large-scale corruption in the Samruddhi Expressway work as well. The expressway is essentially a highway of corruption,” said Sapkal.

He demanded that the government present a full account of the project through a white paper, detailing the amount spent, the cost of each bridge, per-kilometre construction expenses, compensation paid to farmers for land acquisition, payments to contractors, costs for tree plantation, and revenue being collected through tolls.

He also claimed that the expressway has already developed cracks due to “poor” construction quality.

“Ever since it became operational, several accidents have taken place, leading to multiple deaths and hundreds of injuries. The Samruddhi Expressway has only served to enrich a select few from the ruling party. There must be a thorough investigation into the corruption in this project,” Sapkal said.

With the inauguration of the final stretch between Igatpuri in Nashik district to Amane in Bhiwandi taluka of Thane district, this expressway, officially called ‘Hindu Hridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg’, is likely to be open for traffic soon, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRDC) said earlier.

The expressway, built at a cost of about Rs 55,000 crore, is one of India's longest and passes through 10 districts - Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldhana, Jalna, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ahilyanagar, Nashik and Thane, it added. PTI MR NR