- Maharashtra’s most ambitious project – the 701-kilometer Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi corridor will also have a bridge designed as a ‘Charkha’ or a spinning wheel.
- Being built on a river, the 315-meter bridge will be the entry point to Wardha district, well-known for the Sevagram Ashram from where Gandhi led the nation for 12 years till Independence.
As a grand tribute to the ‘father of the nation’ Mahatma Gandhi – Maharashtra’s most ambitious project – the 701-kilometer Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi corridor will also have a bridge designed as a ‘Charkha’ or a spinning wheel that became a symbol representing ‘swadeshi’ or self-sufficiency.
Being built on a river, the 315-meter bridge will be the entry point to Wardha district, well-known for the Sevagram Ashram from where Gandhi led the nation for 12 years till Independence. Mahatma Gandhi initiated the Swadeshi movement by taking up the charkha and encouraging fellow countrymen to weave their clothes instead of buying foreign goods.
The bridge will have three wheels as part of its design. The two bigger rings will be 40 meters in diameter and the smaller ones will be of 16-meter diameter. The iconic six-lane bridge, with two service lanes, will also be crossing over the Wardha river.
According to officials, the detailed designing of the bridge is done and the construction work will also resume soon. The entire 701-kilometre corridor is expected to be functional by May 1, 2022. The Rs 55,000 crore ambitious expressway will connect 10 districts, 26 talukas, and 392 villages between the state’s first and second capital – Mumbai and Nagpur.
Of the 33 major bridges that are being built along the corridor, five bridges at Wardha, Buldhana, Nashik, Thane, and Nagpur will have iconic designs.
The designs under consideration for the bridge in Buldhana is to showcase a bird representing women empowerment. In Nashik, known for its rich history, the bridge will be designed with hands showcasing ‘tarpan’, a Hindu practice of making offerings to the Lord, and in Nagpur, the bridge is likely to be in the form of a tiger to promote the movement ‘save the tiger.’ However, apart from Wardha, the designs for the four other bridges are still under-consideration.
