Khambataki ghat to offer another link

The ghat link was constructed about 125 years ago and thereafter it underwent many changes. But it remained an arduous ghat section in the Puneregion.

The traffic load on the Pune-Satara road, a vital link connecting Mumbai, the commercial capital of the country to the southern states, has increased manifold in the last few years, according to the State PWD officials.

Despite its capacity to cater to about 6,000 vehicles a day, about 14,000 vehicles use the road putting the available network under a terrible strain. Consequently, if a heavy vehicle like a container carrier or trucks or buses break down causes chaos and results in traffic snarls which sometimes take hours to clear. In such an event, the traffic on the national highway is diverted on Khandala-Lonand-Wathar station section.

Widening of the Khambataki ghat has been a long-standing demand, despite constant efforts by the PWD to widen the curves. The Khambataki ghat will get two more carriage lanes making it a four-lane link. The State has allocated Rs 40 crore for the initial construction.of the tunnelThe construction work has been entrusted to the Mumbai-based Ideal Road Builders and is expected to be completed within two years.