In a mega green initiative, 3.3 million trees will be planted along the Samruddhi Corridor, India's longest Greenfield road project connecting Mumbai to Nagpur.
The 701-km-long Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway, which is known as the Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is one of the finest road projects of the country which passes through several districts of the state.
The Phase-I of the project, which connects Nagpur, the winter capital of the state to the temple town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022.
The Phase-II of the project, which would connect Shirdi to Thane and Mumbai will be inaugurated this year.
A few years ago Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) partnered with the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) to increase the green cover.
At the inauguration of Sumangalam Panchmahabhuta Lokotsav at Kaneri Math in Kolhapur recently, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde made the announcement in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The Panchamahabhutas are Prithvi (Earth), Jal (Water), Agni (Fire), Vayu (Air), Aakasha (Space) - and it is the basis of all creation.
“The panchamahabhutas are under threat across the globe because of the huge losses we have been posing on them. We, as the state government, have been trying to restrict the losses at our level. We have decided to plant 3.3 million trees along the newly inaugurated Samruddhi Expressway between Mumbai and Nagpur,” Shinde said.
He also pointed out that when Fadnavis was the Chief Minister, he had successfully implemented the water conservation scheme Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan aimed at making villages drought free.
"We have recently launched its second phase. We are now helping farmers for organic farming on 25 lakh hectares,” said Shinde.
State’s Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar, RSS’s ex-general secretary Bhayyaji Joshi, Siddhgiri Kaneri Math head Kadsiddheshwar Swami were among those present at the occasion.