Mumbai: It’s been 17 years and counting, but the Mumbai-Goa highway expansion project is still a work in progress. Potholes and politics plague it, leaving thousands of commuters increasingly frustrated over the years.
Every year, the precarious condition of the under-construction NH-66 highway comes into focus just ahead of the Ganesh festival, when many Konkan natives living in Mumbai use the road to travel to their villages in the Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. But after the festival is over, the highway is forgotten—and the delays continue.
From land acquisition delays to hurdles in obtaining clearances from contractors, the Mumbai-Goa highway expansion project has been dogged by problems ever since it was announced.
The 470-km highway is a crucial link connecting Mumbai to Goa, stretching along the western coast from industrial clusters such as Panvel, Indapur and Mahad in Raigad to picturesque tourist destinations such as Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg on the southern tip in Konkan.
On Sunday, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray visited Raigad and took stock of the situation.
Thackeray told reporters that when he had spoken to Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in the past, the minister had told him, “That contractors got bored and ran away.”
“Every time the same issue of contractors comes up, the cost has escalated, the commission has been eaten away and the road condition remains poor. And this has been happening for years,” Thackeray added.
The project has also become a political issue.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the MNS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are all looking to expand their political influence in the Konkan region, and have often engaged in blame games over the project.
Minister Bharat Gogawale, who comes from Mahad district in Raigad, told ThePrint that work was progressing smoothly, and only the service road had potholes.
“When it rained last month, cracks developed in Nagothane. But it is getting checked. We are working to make the service road better, and apart from a couple of places, the road is in good condition. We assure that things will get better before Ganeshotsav,” Gogawale said.
Work on the highway dragged on for years and is still incomplete. Meanwhile, estimated costs have doubled from Rs 7,500 crore when it first began to Rs 15,000 crore.
The NH-66 is riddled with potholes, leading to multiple accidents.
The highway project is a joint venture between the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the state’s PWD department.
The NHAI is responsible for 84 km from Panvel, the entry point from Mumbai to Indapur, and the PWD department for the rest of the highway.
Raigad MP Sunil Tatkare also took stock of the situation and assured that the remaining work on Mumbai-Goa Highway would be completed before the Ganesh festival.
“In the last three months, I have taken many meetings regarding this work. I have even spoken to Gadkari ji. NHAI and state PWD officials pass the buck to each other, but my efforts will be to solve the issue of shoddy work by 15 August,” he told reporters.
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Work in progress…
But the project’s journey hasn’t been smooth.
The highway was initially two lanes but in 2007 the then UPA government at the Centre decided to expand it to four lanes, promising a smooth and pothole-free drive.
However, land acquisition delays pushed the start to 2010. Initially, 2016 was the deadline to wrap up the project. But with hurdles in getting multiple clearances and problems with contractors, the project was repeatedly delayed.
For instance, the widening of the Panvel-Indapur stretch—a core area passing through the protected Karnala Bird Sanctuary—was stuck in litigation for nearly five years.
Initially, work was restricted to a 10-km eco-sensitive zone on the outskirts of the forest land. But in 2015, after a long-drawn legal battle, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) approved the widening of the stretch.
Then, the contractor faced financial troubles, which further delayed the work.
Initially, the project was being executed under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, under which a private contractor would build, operate and then transfer the project.
However, due to various issues with land and alleged non-performance by the concessionaire, the NHAI terminated the agreement in 2021. The NHAI provided Rs 500 crore in assistance to the contractor for the project, but then terminated the contract because work failed to progress.
Although the contractor challenged the termination, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the NHAI, and a new contractor took over the work in 2022.
After the termination of the previous agreement, the authority awarded the works under an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) model, in which the NHAI is responsible for releasing payments to contractors for work done on site.
In 2023, Nitin Gadkari announced that work on the rest of the highway was 90 percent complete. However, substandard road conditions on the controversial 84-km stretch between Panvel and Indapur remained a concern for travellers and bus operators.
The highway is riddled with potholes, and cracks have appeared at multiple spots even on a newly constructed flyover.
The flyover in Nagothane, opened to the public in April, has developed cracks after just one monsoon. A parallel service road was opened to the public, but that too is full of potholes.
“In case of Nagothane, an investigation is going on regarding the shoddy work of the flyover. Teams from Delhi are arriving to inspect it, and till then, for about two months, that flyover won’t be open for the public,” Tatkare told the media.
On this parallel service road, the potholes were filled with paver blocks, which did not go down well with cabinet minister Aditi Tatkare, who is also the guardian minister for Raigad.
Speaking to the media Monday, she said, “Paver blocks should not be used in national or state highways because of the use of heavy vehicles, and paver blocks cannot withstand that. I have told the officials and those responsible that these paver blocks will not sustain and may come off. They should instead use new technology to fill the potholes.”
Tatkare said that the repair work on this service road would be completed by 25 August.
Residents have complained about the growing inconvenience caused by the service road, which is being used at stretches where construction is underway on the main roads.
“Yes, it is right that the service road condition is bad and the DPR (detailed project report) is being prepared on it. Because of neglect, carelessness and right provisions not being made, such a condition has arisen,” Sunil Tatkare said.
At another spot in Mangaon, a bypass has been constructed to ensure that traffic runs smoothly. Gogawale said one lane would be started before the Ganesh festival.
Rocky road ahead
Due to the potholes on the Mumbai-Goa national highway, at least 97 people have died, and over 200 have been injured in 170 accidents since 2020, according to government data.
However, according to engineer and local activist Chaitanya Patil, the death toll since 2011 is much higher.
“Potholes get repaired only after someone dies. But that shouldn’t be the case. At many places, accidents are taking place, and people are dying, cars are getting damaged, and all these things are the same for years,” Patil said.
Patil has been following the construction of the Mumbai-Goa highway for the past decade. He has even written letters to the authorities, local administration, local representatives and ministers, but to no avail.
In 2025, he walked 490 km from Panvel to Goa over 29 days, documenting potholes, cracks, missing road signs and other hazards. He then sent the photographs to authorities.
“The authorities worked whenever I showed them the potholes, but they don’t do anything proactively. Authorities just point fingers at each other but don’t do anything,” he said.
“My only goal is to save people’s lives and make the ride on this Mumbai-Goa highway smooth,” he added.
‘Highway politics’
The highway has become a political flashpoint.
The Konkan region includes Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Thane, Palghar, Mumbai city, and Mumbai suburban districts. Many people from Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg have migrated to Mumbai and Thane districts for employment while having their roots in the villages. So during the 10-day Ganesh Festival, these people travel to their hometowns and use this crucial link.
The undivided Shiv Sena once dominated the region, but after the split, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena has gained dominance, with the BJP not far behind.
The highway sparked a political slugfest between local Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale and BJP minister Ravindra Chavan during the 2024 assembly elections, with both blaming each other for the construction delays.
Even Raj Thackeray on Sunday blamed political interference for the inordinate delays in the construction.
“For around 15 years, we have been hearing about the Mumbai-Goa highway project. But it could not be completed just because of political intervention for kickbacks from the contractors,” he said.
Bhaskar Jadhav, MLA from Shiv Sena UBT and the lone MLA in Konkan, questioned the delays in construction on Monday.
“People responsible for this highway should come clean and explain why this highway is facing delays for years. They never come up with any explanation on this and never came up with a concrete solution to complete this highway,” Jadhav told the media.
ThePrint attempted to reach NHAI’s regional office handling the project via email and PWD secretary Milind Mhaiskar via email and phone calls. This report will be updated when they respond.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)