In an effort to facilitate the movement of devotees to Pandharpur in Maharastra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for four-laning of five sections of Shri Sant Dnyaneshawar Maharaj Palkhi Marg (NH-965) and three sections of Shri Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi Marg (NH-965G) today at 3.30 P.M. through video conferencing.
Dedicated walkways for Palkhi will be constructed on either side of these National Highways, providing hassle-free and safe passage to devotees.
About 221 kilometers of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi Marg from Diveghat to Mohol and about 130 kilometers of Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi Marg from Patas to Tondale – Bondale, will be four-laned with dedicated walkways for ‘Palkhi’ on either side, at estimated costs of more than six thousand 690 crore rupees and about four thousand 400 crore rupees.
During the event, Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation more than 223 kilometers of completed and upgraded road projects, constructed with an estimated cost of over one thousand 180 crore rupees at different National Highways for boosting connectivity to Pandharpur.
These projects include Mhaswad – Piliv – Pandharpur (NH-548E), Kurduwadi – Pandharpur (NH- 965C), Pandharpur – Sangola (NH-965C), Tembhurni-Pandharpur section of (NH-561A) and Pandharpur – Mangalwedha – Umadi section of NH- 561A.
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray will be present on the occasion.
Devotees are walking to Pandharpur for many centuries in Maharashtra, but with the increased vehicular traffic on the routes of Pandharpur Wari, facilities of safe pilgrimage and up gradation of the roads had become the need of the hour.
With the up-gradation of the infrastructure in and around Pandharpur lakhs of devotees in Maharashtra will get benefit of the facilities and the annual pilgrimage will be fully safe not only for warkaris, but for also other devotees travelling to Pandharpur.