Spiritual Drive

In theory, the Shaktipeeth Expressway is the kind of infrastructure project any state would be proud of. Spanning 802km and connecting 12 districts from Pavnar in Vidarbha to Patradevi near Goa, it is being marketed as a devotional corridor uniting key pilgrimage sites such as Tuljapur, Pandharpur Mahur, and Kolhapur’s Mahalaxmi temple. Beyond spiritual synergy, it promises cold, hard logistics: travel time from Nagpur to Goa will be slashed from 18 to 8 hours, and the economic integration of far-flung regions like Marathwada and the Konkan coast will gain a much-needed boost.

Yet, as with the Samruddhi Mahamarg before it, sacred ambition must meet secular scrutiny. For many farmers in Western Maharashtra, particularly in Kolhapur and Sangli, the Shaktipeeth Expressway represents not salvation, but an existential threat. Fearing land loss, displacement and environmental degradation, they have mounted fierce resistance. Their protests have not gone entirely unheard. While the Maharashtra cabinet cleared Rs. 20,787 crores for land acquisition, it only approved a truncated alignment from Pavnar to Sangli, over 700km. Several talukas in Kolhapur have been spared, at least for now.

The ruling Mahayuti coalition is aware that infrastructure cannot steamroll democratic consent. Ministers like Hasan Mushrif and Prakash Abitkar, both from Kolhapur, were vocal in cabinet discussions about the political cost of ignoring farmers. In a show of restraint, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to redraw the Sangli-Sindhudurg segment after consultations with local stakeholders. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has assured that no route would be implemented forcibly.

That assurance is welcome, but it must be honoured in both letter and spirit. Public infrastructure requires building trust, and not merely concrete and loan capital. And that has been fraying. Farmers across India have been rattled by rapid land acquisition for big-ticket projects that promise growth but deliver pain to those uprooted. Maharashtra is no stranger to this trend. The Samruddhi Expressway linking Mumbai to Nagpur did indeed reduce travel time and spark economic activity. But it also left behind a trail of unresolved compensation disputes and accusations of coercion. The government would do well to ensure that Shaktipeeth does not follow that same trajectory.

There is also the question of balance. If pilgrimage tourism is to be genuinely beneficial, it must be embedded in broader regional development in form of cold chains for farm produce, storage hubs for grains, feeder roads for remote villages and training centres for unemployed youth. A road to a temple is only half a journey unless it also becomes a road to opportunity. The 12 districts the expressway will traverse, particularly in Vidarbha and Marathwada, are among the state’s most drought-prone and economically backward. Improving physical access must be matched with real economic upliftment.

Maharashtra’s road density still lags behind national benchmarks. Expressways, when planned transparently and executed equitably, are transformative. But such transformation cannot come at the cost of alienating those who till the land it will run through.